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☆ China's military, state media slam U.S. after report on SpaceX spy satellites
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

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. 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. A social media account run by the People's Liberation Army, or 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. 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".

Persons: Elon, SpaceX's, Wang Yanan Organizations: Reuters, SpaceX, National Reconnaissance Office, NRO, People's Liberation Army, PLA, U.S ., Aerospace, Communist Party Locations: United States, Washington, U.S, Weibo

☆ Musk's SpaceX is building spy satellite network for U.S. intelligence agency, sources told Reuters
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

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. SpaceX, the world's largest satellite operator, did not respond to several requests for comment about the contract, its role in it and details on satellite launches. The satellites can track targets on the ground and share that data with U.S. intelligence and military officials, the sources said. The spy satellites will house sensors provided by another company, three of the sources said.

Persons: Jared Isaacman, Elon, SpaceX's, Biden, Tesla Organizations: SpaceX, National Reconnaissance Office, Street, NRO, Reuters, Pentagon, ., U.S ., U.S, U.S . Space Force, CIA Locations: Starbase, Boca Chica , Texas, Ukraine, U.S, Starlink, Russia, China

☆ SpaceX inked $1.8 billion deal with US intelligence agency to create a network of spy satellites, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

SpaceX's national security ties are deeper than previously known, a new Reuters report revealed. The astronautics company inked a $1.8 billion deal in 2021 with a US intelligence agency. Under the contract terms, SpaceX will build a network of spy satellites, the outlet reported. AdvertisementSpaceX's substantial ties to US national security are deeper than previously known, according to a new Reuters report. The astronautics company inked a $1.8 billion deal in 2021 with an American intelligence agency to create a network of spy satellites, the outlet reported, citing five sources familiar with the terms of the program.

Persons: — Organizations: Reuters, astronautics, SpaceX, Service, National Reconnaissance Office, Business Locations: American

These are among the reasons why there was alarm this week over reports that Russia may be pursuing nuclear weapons in space. So much of the country's infrastructure is now dependent on U.S. satellite communications — and those satellites have become increasingly vulnerable. Photos You Should See View All 33 ImagesTHE PAST: STARFISH PRIME AND PROJECT KBoth Russia and the U.S. have detonated nuclear warheads in space. The U.S. and the Soviet Union signed a nuclear test ban treaty a year later, in 1963, which prohibited further testing of nuclear weapons in space. The creation of the Space Force elevated spending on satellite systems and defenses.

Persons: Stephen Schwartz, Ariel, Hans Kristensen, ” Kristensen, John Kirby, John Ferrari, DeAnna Burt, Pat Ryder, Ferrari, ” Ferrari Organizations: WASHINGTON, Aviation, Russia, U.S, of Atomic Scientists, Starfish Prime, of Defense, Radio, Federation of American Scientists, Soviet Union, House, American Enterprise Institute, U.S . Space Force, NRO, National Reconnaissance Office, Pentagon, Space Force, Defense Department Locations: Russia, China, U.S, Hawaii, British, Ukraine

☆ Investing in Space: A reality check on SPAC frenzy revenue projections
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

Overview: Forecast or fantasyWe're now at least two years on from when a slew of space companies went public during the SPAC frenzy, and, look, none of them look great. Now a bit further down the road, I want to look at a different financial metric: 2023 revenue projections. I ran an informal series for a while to mark when a space company announced it was going public. The rest of the pack isn't as on the mark: A few companies are roughly halfway to their earlier 2023 revenue projections, or performing even better. Spire forecast 2023 revenue of $227 million and is closing in on about $107 million.

Persons: Angela Weiss, CNBC's Michael Sheetz, it's, I'd, Here's, Derek Tournear, Ron Rosano, Trevor Beattie, Namira Salim, –, REx, Christopher Povak, Lisa Watson, Morgan, – Watson, Morgan Starliner, General, NASA Astrobotic, Andy Lapsa Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, AFP, Getty, Terran, Galactic Astra, CNBC, Pentagon, Space Development Agency, LinkedIn, Galactic, NASA, NASA NRO, Soyuz, – Reuters, Reuters SpaceX, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, IAC, Lunar Research, SpaceX, Boeing NASA, Moonshots Capital, Lavrock Ventures, Veteran Fund, Mana Ventures, AIN Ventures, Capital Factory, Astra, – Bloomberg, ViaSat, Viasat Locations: Russian, Azerbaijan, Russia, Venezuela, South Africa, Florida, Washington, CNBC Los Angeles

☆ New Red Order: Artists With a Call to ‘Give It Back’
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Travis Diehl | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The New Red Order named themselves after the Improved Order of Red Men, a largely white fraternal organization fond of Native regalia. It’s easy to mock grown men playing Indigenous dress-up, but the New Red Order see something deeper: the way American national identity has defined itself in terms of an idealized Native authenticity and freedom. “Even Indians play Indian. Indian people want to appear to be more traditionally Native American.”Over the past five years, Indigenous artists have gained global prominence. Land acknowledgments, which name specific tribes forced to leave an area, may seem to be a kind of progress — but the New Red Order say visibility is not the end, and could even hurt Indigenous artists, if people decide organizations have done enough.

Persons: Warren Harding, Franklin D, Roosevelt, Theodore, ” Zack Khalil, “, Jeffrey Gibson, Smith Organizations: Red, Liberty, Boston Tea Party, The Mississippi Choctaw, Cherokee, Whitney Museum, NRO Locations: Waco , Texas, The, United States, Venice, Kootenai Nation

☆ NRO director says commercial space industry helps fuel the spy satellite agency’s ambitious goals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Morgan Brennan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office plans to quadruple the number of satellites on orbit over the next decade. It will need commercial space companies to help do it. "It's helped us improve our reliability so that we can achieve more with more capability at a lower cost," he said. The ambitious game plan speaks to the growing role of commercial space companies in national security work. NRO partners closely with both the U.S. Space Command and the Space Force.

☆ 2 little-known intel agencies are helping US partners keep an eye on Russia's and China's frontline forces
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Two little-known US intelligence agencies have made significant contributions to countering Russia in Ukraine. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office have gathered and distributed valuable information about Russian activity. Little-known intel agenciesA National Reconnaissance Office payload is launched into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in September 2017. US Air Force/Senior Airman Ian DudleyThe US response to Russia's war in Ukraine has pulled the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office out of the shadows. NRO satellites have many customers, but the NGA is probably the most reliant on the satellites operated by the NRO.

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