SpaceX launches the third test flight of the Starship spacecraft on March 14, 2024. The rocket system entered space several minutes after launch from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. It achieved a number of milestones before losing contact with the ground, according to media reports. Photo: AFP

SpaceX's increasing involvement in US' military deployment poses a new threat to world peace and stability, and may even impact the everyday lives of ordinary people around the world, experts warned after the company is reportedly building a powerful spy satellite network using hundreds of its satellites for US intelligence agencies. 

In an exclusive report from Reuters on Saturday, the commercial space giant is allegedly building a network of spy satellites under a classified contract worth $1.8 billion with a US intelligence agency called the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), Reuters said, citing sources familiar with the program. 

A special business unit under SpaceX, Starshield, is undertaking the project, the sources revealed, and if successful, it would significantly advance the US military's ability to quickly spot potential targets "almost anywhere on the globe," the reports said. 

The reason the NRO chose SpaceX was mainly due to the company's advantage in the number of small satellites it has in orbit, which allows for maximum coverage of more orbital levels, Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert and media commentator, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

"The large number of satellites can enable the monitoring of a certain area without any blind spots, not only in coverage but also in time duration, thereby creating an all-encompassing spy network above the heads of all countries around the world," Wei said. 

Starshield was established in December 2022, when the company announced it was "expanding its Starlink satellite technology into military applications." The target customers of Starshield includes the Pentagon and other national security agencies.

While the company tried hard to separate the two units to calm public worries, it is clear to all that the line is not so clear. Starshield will utilize the Starlink satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit to meet the growing needs of the US defense and intelligence agencies, media reports said, further blurring the boundary between civilian and military use.

Prior to this program, the Pentagon was already a big customer of SpaceX, using its Falcon 9 rockets to launch a dozen military payloads into space, according to media reports.

"This move is very dangerous," Wei said, as once space becomes another arena for arms race, the company's assets could be in jeopardy. In addition, if this spy satellite network gets involved in a US-instigated "space war" and thus poses threats to other countries, SpaceX may become a target for retaliation or counterbalance.

Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, believes that countries and regions will definitely take countermeasures once the network become operational, such as by moving facilities underground or using optical camouflage for concealment. As a result, obtaining sensitive information would still not be "a piece of cake" for US intelligence agencies, Wang told the Global Times.

Nevertheless, observers believe the spy network will pose a new threat to global peace and security. "The US' extensive intelligence reconnaissance of countries or regions of interest will inevitably make some hot-button issues more sensitive or even escalate, and it will also make already complex international relationships more difficult to handle," Wang said.

Wei warned that the satellite system will not only monitor military targets but civilian targets as well, potentially exposing the daily lives of ordinary people to surveillance, which will have significant negative implications for information security and personal privacy protection worldwide.

While the US incessantly hypes China's "growing threat" in space and advocates for "demilitarization," it has not stopped building up its military capabilities in the field, with the true aim of achieving a dominant position in space technology to support its superiority. "Due to the US' instigations, we may eventually have to face the fact that space has become a new battleground," Wang noted.