The relationship that Elon Musk has always had with the security state and the US government more broadly should have been a red flag that he wasn’t actually going to give anyone free speech.

I guess it wasn’t?

Reuters:

SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with a U.S. intelligence agency, five sources familiar with the program said, demonstrating deepening ties between billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s space company and national security agencies.

The network is being built by SpaceX’s Starshield business unit under a $1.8 billion contract signed in 2021 with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), an intelligence agency that manages spy satellites, the sources said.

The plans show the extent of SpaceX’s involvement in U.S. intelligence and military projects and illustrate a deeper Pentagon investment into vast, low-Earth orbiting satellite systems aimed at supporting ground forces.

If successful, the sources said the program would significantly advance the ability of the U.S. government and military to quickly spot potential targets almost anywhere on the globe.

The contract signals growing trust by the intelligence establishment of a company whose owner has clashed with the Biden administration and sparked controversy over the use of Starlink satellite connectivity in the Ukraine war, the sources said.

The Wall Street Journal reported in February the existence of a $1.8 billion classified Starshield contract with an unknown intelligence agency without detailing the purposes of the program.

Reuters reporting discloses for the first time that the SpaceX contract is for a powerful new spy system with hundreds of satellites bearing Earth-imaging capabilities that can operate as a swarm in low orbits, and that the spy agency that Musk’s company is working with is the NRO.

…

The satellites can track targets on the ground and share that data with U.S. intelligence and military officials, the sources said. In principle, that would enable the U.S. government to quickly capture continuous imagery of activities on the ground nearly anywhere on the globe, aiding intelligence and military operations, they added.

…

The classified constellation of spy satellites represents one of the U.S. government’s most sought-after capabilities in space because it is designed to offer the most persistent, pervasive and rapid coverage of activities on Earth.

“No one can hide,” one of the sources said of the system’s potential capability, when describing the network’s reach.

This is a system that will cover the entire earth and be able to see everything happening in real time, in high definition. The satellites can already read license plates.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX building spy satellite network

Satellites to help quickly spot potential targets globally

Crispino R. J. Nunes reports pic.twitter.com/5oTWItE3MC

— WION (@WIONews) March 17, 2024

This sort of global electronic surveillance grid is not really compatible with “freedom.”

Chinese military and state-run media accused the United States of threatening global security, days after a Reuters report found Elon Musk’s SpaceX was building hundreds of spy satellites for a US intelligence agency https://t.co/F0NbjMqJzG

— Reuters (@Reuters) March 18, 2024

Previously: Elon Building Advanced Network of Spy Satellites for American Intelligence Agency

These Chinese and Russians were all refusing to use Daily Stormer language for years.

Finally, they get it.

Or maybe… maybe “don’t help a villain do evil” is just Chinese language that I personally admire?

Reuters:

Chinese military and state-run media on Sunday accused the United States of threatening global security, days after a Reuters report which found Elon Musk’s SpaceX was building hundreds of spy satellites for a U.S. intelligence agency.

SpaceX’s Starshield unit is developing the satellite network under a classified $1.8 billion contract with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), Reuters reported on Friday, citing five sources familiar with the programme.

A social media account run by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said the SpaceX program exposed the United States’ “shamelessness and double standards” as Washington accuses Chinese tech companies of threatening U.S. security.

“We urge U.S. companies to not help a villain do evil,” Junzhengping, an account run by the PLA, posted on social media platform Weibo on Sunday. The account has 1.1 million followers.

“All countries worldwide should be vigilant and protect against new and even bigger security threats created by the U.S. government,” the post said.

Wang Yanan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge, a magazine overseen by the ruling Communist Party, was quoted in an interview as saying the SpaceX satellite project posed “a challenge to global security and stability”.

“The United States’ high-profile intelligence reconnaissance of countries or regions it is concerned about will inevitably cause some hot issues to become more sensitive or even escalate,” Wang told The Global Times, a Chinese state-controlled newspaper, in an interview published on Sunday.

All the US does is create security threats.

Elon Musk should be in jail.

Elon Musk has been secretly been working on “star shield” spy satellite network project.

This will allow the real time CCTV like tracking of people around the world. pic.twitter.com/KOCgEN64jx

— Remington Ph.D (@DrRemingtonPHD) March 17, 2024

🛰️ 18 European nations including the UK have agreed to explore and develop a framework for improved surveillance from space.

🇬🇧🇧🇪🇧🇬🇨🇦🇫🇷🇩🇪🇬🇷🇭🇺🇮🇹🇱🇺 🇳🇱🇳🇴🇵🇱🇵🇹🇷🇴🇪🇸🇹🇷🇸🇪

The agreement will launch the Allied Persistent Surveillance from Space Initiative.

👉 https://t.co/3mvurK83TS pic.twitter.com/n69FvrteTE

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) February 16, 2023

Spying on the entire earth from space is not really a new thing.

Presumably, they’re announcing it to attempt to further agitate the Chinese.

Most of what NATO does now, outside of their little project in the Ukraine, is about agitating China (which is weird, because Tucker Carlson told me the United States is controlled by the Chinese).

RT:

NATO has announced a new space project that aims to create a fleet of spy satellites. The initiative, which includes NATO applicants Sweden and Finland, involves not only national but commercial assets.

The project, which is called ‘Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space’ (APSS), was unveiled on Wednesday, with a total of 16 current member states expected to chip in. According to a statement published on NATO’s website, the project will “help streamline data collection, sharing and analysis among NATO Allies and with the NATO command structure.”

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May of 2022, though their bids have yet to be approved by Hungary and Türkiye. However, despite not being formally admitted into the military bloc, both Stockholm and Helsinki are already participating in joint projects.

APSS will entail the creation of a “constellation,” named ‘Aquila’, of national as well as commercial satellites. It is expected to “provide essential support to NATO’s military missions and operations.”

The military bloc explained that APSS comes as part of NATO’s Overarching Space Policy adopted back in 2019.

At a meeting in London that same year, member states declared space a fifth operational domain, alongside air, land, maritime, and cyberspace.

We are already in “Cold War logic,” where these people can justify to the public projects that would normally be considered immoral or beyond the pale with the reasoning that “we have to do it because the enemy is going to do it.”

In general, people don’t like the idea of every inch of the earth being constantly surveilled by satellites. But what choice do we have, what with these balloons coming at us?