SpaceX unveils new military satellite ‘Starshield’

According to the company’s website, SpaceX has unveiled a new project named “Starshield” that is a satellite project “intended for government use.”

The sats will specifically be utilizing the Elon Musk-led company’s current Starlink broadband internet service constellation to “support national security efforts”. According to the company, that will be centered on spying on the Earth below. As well as hosting any payload that military and government agencies want — a purposefully ambiguous directive that immediately raises concerns about the growing militarization of space.

In sum, the action builds on SpaceX’s lengthy history of flying top-secret missions and solidifies its position within the US military industrial complex. And nobody knows where that will go, especially for the increasingly right-leaning Musk.

SpaceX hasn’t provided many details about the new satellites. But an image on its website appears to depict one of them looming over the planet below.

To keep military operations closely under wraps, the corporation does assert that they’ll include “extra high-assurance cryptographic capability to host sensitive payloads and process data safely.”

Starshield sats will also be able to link to the business’s Starlink communication network. The company said, utilizing “inter-satellite laser communications.”

The company has so far sent 3,200 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit. And the Federal Communications Commission has given them permission to put over 10,000 more first-generation satellites into orbit.

The project’s ideological implications are currently its most far-reaching effect. SpaceX demonstrates that its motivations go well beyond the peaceful exploration of the Moon and Mars. By completely establishing itself as a military contractor.

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