A network of hundreds of spy satellites for the United States.
It is the project that SpaceX, through its little-known Starshield division, is working on as part of a $1.8 billion contract signed in 2021 with one of the American intelligence agencies.
The Reuters indiscretion shows the increasingly close ties between Elon Musk and the American government, but also the Pentagon's significant investments in low Earth orbit satellite systems to help and support the activities of forces on the ground.
If the program SpaceX is working on is successful, the Department of Defense will see its capabilities significantly increase, quickly identifying potential targets almost anywhere in the world.
The constellation of spy satellites will in fact be able to offer the most persistent, pervasive and rapid coverage of activities on Earth.
"No one can escape it," a source told Reuters when describing the new system's capabilities.
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