China Condemns US SpaceX Spy Satellite Program As A Global Security Threat

Launch of the Stashield project from SpaceX (photo: x @spacex)

JAKARTA - China's military and state media on Sunday 17 March accused the United States of threatening global security, days after a Reuters report found that Elon Musk's SpaceX was building hundreds of spy satellites for US intelligence agencies.

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

A social media account run by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) said SpaceX's program exposed the United States' "impurity and double standards" as Washington accused Chinese tech companies of threatening US security.

"We urge US companies not to help criminals commit crimes," Junzhengping wrote, an account run by the PLA, on the Weibo social media platform on Sunday. The account has 1.1 million followers.

All countries around the world must be vigilant and protect themselves from the new and even bigger security threats created by the US government, the post said.

Wang Yanan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge, a magazine supervised by the ruling Communist Party, was quoted in an interview as saying that the SpaceX satellite project poses a challenge for security and global stability.

"The United States' high-profile intelligence surveillance of countries or territories of concern will make some hot issues more sensitive or even heated up," Wang told The Global Times, a Chinese government-controlled newspaper, in an interview published on Sunday.

Musk runs other companies including the maker of Tesla electric vehicles that have a large manufacturing presence in China. Neither Junzhengping nor the Global Times mention Musk nor Tesla.

Responding to Reuters' story, NRO acknowledged its mission was to develop a space-based surveillance system, but declined to comment on the extent of SpaceX's involvement.

SpaceX, the world's largest satellite operator, did not respond to several requests for comment on the contract.

Starshield networks planned separately from Starlink, SpaceX's growing commercial broadband constellation, which has about 5,500 satellites in space to provide nearly global internet for consumers, companies and government agencies.

Chinese researchers at the PLA have studied the spread of Starlink in war in Ukraine over the past two years and have repeatedly warned about the risks it poses to China.

China has said it also plans to start building its own constellation of satellites.

Space X, NRO, and Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment on China's reaction to the contract.