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SpaceX is currently developing a network of spy satellites through a partnership with a US intelligence agency. This venture, under a classified contract valued at $1.8 billion with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), marks a significant expansion of SpaceX’s contributions to national security efforts.

The program, aimed at creating a vast network of low-Earth orbiting satellites, highlights the deepening relationship between Elon Musk’s company and the defense sector, revealing the Pentagon’s growing interest in advanced satellite technologies to enhance military and intelligence capabilities.

Under the Starshield initiative, a business unit of SpaceX, the company will deploy hundreds of satellites equipped with Earth-imaging abilities. These satellites are designed to operate collectively, providing the US government and military with unprecedented capabilities to detect potential targets worldwide quickly. The program’s success would signify a leap in the United States’ ability to monitor various things from around the globe.

This spy satellite network is separate from SpaceX’s commercial endeavor, Starlink, which aims to offer global internet coverage through a constellation of about 5,500 satellites. The new classified network is anticipated to provide rapid, continuous surveillance capabilities. According to Reuters, this program has already seen the launch of several prototype satellites.

In a statement, the NRO would not confirm the program’s existence but confirmed they were “developing the most capable, diverse, and resilient space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system the world has ever seen.”