Starshield: Starlink's sister is supposed to monitor everyone

Under the name Starlink, the space company SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has built a global satellite network in recent years that now supplies more than 60 countries with internet from space. There are currently around 5,500 Starlink satellites orbiting the Earth, which can be seen with the naked eye in good conditions. They will soon be joined by a sister project called Starshield, whose satellites are not intended for Internet access, but for surveillance. And there is apparently only one user: the US military.

At the end of 2022, SpaceX first mentioned a new business unit called Starshield on its website. This will include a “secure satellite network for government agencies”. Last fall, the Pentagon confirmed a $70 million contract to SpaceX. Now reports from the Wall Street Journal and the Reuters news agency provide further details. Accordingly, the client is the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), a US intelligence service that is responsible for the military satellite program.

The NRO confirmed to Reuters that it was building an advanced satellite system. As the news agency writes with reference to a total of five insiders, SpaceX is said to have received the order worth a total of 1.8 billion US dollars as early as 2021. A year earlier, the US government invested $200 million in a pilot project, and according to insiders, around a dozen satellites have been launched into space since then. These are listed in official databases without further information about the purpose and client.

Like Starlink, Starshield will also operate its satellites in low Earth orbit, where they orbit the Earth approximately once every 100 to 120 minutes. The Starshield network includes larger satellites with cameras and additional sensors as well as smaller satellites that are primarily intended for data transmission. The Starshield satellites, like those from Starlink, will use laser technology and the latest encryption methods to communicate with each other and with ground stations.

The militarization of space

The presumed goal of Starshield is to guarantee complete video and image surveillance of the Earth. This is already partly possible thanks to existing espionage and military satellites. However, a modern system consisting of hundreds to thousands of individual satellites, equipped with the latest camera, sensor and transmission technology, could bring a new quality of military surveillance. The US government can use this to quickly and continuously capture images of activities almost anywhere in the world and thereby support intelligence and military operations, writes Reuters with reference to its sources. “Nobody can hide,” says an insider.

The US government’s creation of such a network confirms the increasingly important role of space in warfare. According to NATO, surveillance from space is now “critically important for coherent deterrence and the defense of the Alliance.” In 2019, the US government founded the United States Space Force (USSF), a new space division for the US armed forces. In September 2020, France also converted its air force into the French Air & Space Forces. And even the Bundeswehr has had an operations center for space activities in the form of the Air and Space Operations Center (ASOC) for four years.

There are also reports that China could begin building a Starlink-like satellite network this year. It is still unclear whether this will only be used commercially or whether it could also be used for military purposes as part of a dual-use system. Since 2006, China has launched almost 150 remote sensing satellites, which officially serve civilian purposes but, according to Western observers and secret services, are also used for espionage purposes. In February there were reports that Russia was working on satellites equipped with nuclear weapons to attack targets in space.

Under the name Starlink, the space company SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has built a global satellite network in recent years that now supplies more than 60 countries with internet from space. There are currently around 5,500 Starlink satellites orbiting the Earth, which can be seen with the naked eye in good conditions. They will soon be joined by a sister project called Starshield, whose satellites are not intended for Internet access, but for surveillance. And there is apparently only one user: the US military.

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