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The new network can provide the United States with continuous global surveillance.
SpaceX, Elon Musk's company, has signed a $ 1.8 billion agreement with the US National Office of Military Space Intelligence (NRO) to create a network of hundreds of spy satellites. The project reportedly strengthens ties between the space enterprise and national security agencies. This is the first disclosure that SpaceX's contract provides for working with NRO.
The network is being developed by SpaceX's Starshield division under a contract signed in 2021. Sources familiar with the program note that this initiative highlights the depth of SpaceX's involvement in US intelligence and military projects, as well as demonstrates the Pentagon's increased investment in extensive low-Earth orbit satellite systems designed to support forces on earth.
It is planned that the satellite network will be able to track targets on the ground and share this data with US intelligence and military services, which will allow the US government to quickly obtain continuous images of activities on the ground almost anywhere in the world, contributing to intelligence and military activities.
Since 2020, about a dozen prototypes have been launched into orbit aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets as part of various missions. Data from the US space base indicates the launch of several SpaceX missions involving satellites previously unannounced by either the company or the government. According to sources, these devices are prototypes for the future Starshield network.
The Pentagon is already a major customer of SpaceX, using its Falcon 9 rockets to launch military cargo into space. The Starshield network is expected to be different from Starlink, SpaceX's commercial broadband Internet access network, which has about 5,500 satellites and provides Internet to consumers, companies, and government agencies almost worldwide.
The Starshield program is part of an escalating competition between the United States and other powers to establish military dominance in space. It involves deploying an extensive network of spy satellites in low-Earth orbit instead of using bulky and expensive spacecraft in higher orbits. This low-orbit constellation will be able to provide faster and almost continuous surveys of the Earth's surface.
Starshield will significantly expand the capabilities of the United States in the field of remote sensing. The network will consist of large satellites with powerful sensors for obtaining images, as well as many relay satellites. The latter will transmit image data and other communications across the entire network using inter-satellite laser communication lines, according to knowledgeable sources.
The use of compact spacecraft and the latest inter-satellite data transmission technologies will create a flexible and efficient global space intelligence system of a new generation.
SpaceX, Elon Musk's company, has signed a $ 1.8 billion agreement with the US National Office of Military Space Intelligence (NRO) to create a network of hundreds of spy satellites. The project reportedly strengthens ties between the space enterprise and national security agencies. This is the first disclosure that SpaceX's contract provides for working with NRO.
The network is being developed by SpaceX's Starshield division under a contract signed in 2021. Sources familiar with the program note that this initiative highlights the depth of SpaceX's involvement in US intelligence and military projects, as well as demonstrates the Pentagon's increased investment in extensive low-Earth orbit satellite systems designed to support forces on earth.
It is planned that the satellite network will be able to track targets on the ground and share this data with US intelligence and military services, which will allow the US government to quickly obtain continuous images of activities on the ground almost anywhere in the world, contributing to intelligence and military activities.
Since 2020, about a dozen prototypes have been launched into orbit aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets as part of various missions. Data from the US space base indicates the launch of several SpaceX missions involving satellites previously unannounced by either the company or the government. According to sources, these devices are prototypes for the future Starshield network.
The Pentagon is already a major customer of SpaceX, using its Falcon 9 rockets to launch military cargo into space. The Starshield network is expected to be different from Starlink, SpaceX's commercial broadband Internet access network, which has about 5,500 satellites and provides Internet to consumers, companies, and government agencies almost worldwide.
The Starshield program is part of an escalating competition between the United States and other powers to establish military dominance in space. It involves deploying an extensive network of spy satellites in low-Earth orbit instead of using bulky and expensive spacecraft in higher orbits. This low-orbit constellation will be able to provide faster and almost continuous surveys of the Earth's surface.
Starshield will significantly expand the capabilities of the United States in the field of remote sensing. The network will consist of large satellites with powerful sensors for obtaining images, as well as many relay satellites. The latter will transmit image data and other communications across the entire network using inter-satellite laser communication lines, according to knowledgeable sources.
The use of compact spacecraft and the latest inter-satellite data transmission technologies will create a flexible and efficient global space intelligence system of a new generation.
