SpaceX, the aerospace company owned by Elon Musk, is picking up another victory, this time in the form of a $70 million contract with the U.S. Space Force to deploy the Starshield constellation. We used ChatGPT to tell us about the plans.
Although not all the details have been disclosed in typical military project announcements, the US Space Force has officially confirmed that SpaceX has indeed won the contract in question. SpaceX said in its announcement that the advanced military satellites, which it will not only launch, but will also manufacture and likely help operate, rely on its satellite internet service technology, Starlink, but are intended for exclusive use by government agencies, including the U.S. military and intelligence agencies.
But Starshield satellites aren't just communications satellites: SpaceX's website notes that they will also be used for observing Earth, as well as carrying "extremely demanding payloads" — a phrase whose meaning is unclear.
To ensure the security of these satellites' government-military uses, they will use cryptographic encryption technologies and other cyber measures designed to ensure that they cannot leak or hack. However, the announcement notes that some information may also pass through SpaceX's regular Internet service satellites to expand the "reception" range of military satellites.
As we know, SpaceX's civilian Internet service already includes about 5,000 satellites, most of which have already begun operation, and it has permission to launch a total of 12,000 – although it is working on increasing the allocation to 30,000. This fact bothers quite a few people, who complain that satellites constantly passing across the sky interfere with telescopes' observations of space due to the sunlight they reflect and disrupt sensitive optical equipment, as well as radio signal receiving equipment from space.
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