SpaceX has been awarded a contract by the Defense Department’s National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to build a network of hundreds of low-orbit spy satellites that can operate as a swarm and track targets on the ground. . The Reuters The report, which cites five sources with information about the program, builds on previous reports It revealed that SpaceX had signed a $1.8 billion contract with an unnamed agency in 2021.
Called Starshield, the network will reportedly be able to collect continuous images of the entire Earth for US intelligence, using a mix of large-image satellites to collect data and relay satellites to transmit data. The source who spoke about it said Reuters, has the potential to make it “no one can hide”. Neither SpaceX nor the NRO has directly confirmed the company’s involvement in the project, but an NRO spokesperson said. Reuters“The National Intelligence Agency is developing the most capable, diverse and sustainable space intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system the world has ever seen.”
Last fall, it was reported that SpaceX had To provide satellite communication within the Starshield program. It’s a different entity than SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, at least according to it Starlink “must be a civilian network,” he said, while Starshield was to be used for government and national security purposes.
