Why are so many freedom loving, privacy aware people using a military contractor’s satellite service, and turning a blind eye to the surveillance grid he is co-creating with the U.S. military and intelligence?
On Monday, former Texas Congressman Dr. Ron Paul told his audience on Twitter/X that due to an “internet outage in our area” he would not broadcast his daily live broadcast, The Ron Paul Liberty Report.
Elon Musk, the executive chairman and chief technology officer of Twitter, responded to Paul, stating, “You should get Starlink”. Finally, Paul asked, “That sounds like a great idea! How much does it cost?”
Starlink is what is known as a satellite internet constellation which is operated by Starlink Services, an international telecommunications company that is wholly owned by Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX. Starlink satellites were first launched by SpaceX in 2019, and now reportedly provide internet access to people in more than 100 countries. They have become increasingly popular because of their ease of setup and relatively low cost.
The most recent numbers on Starlink satellites say the satellite constellation consists of more than 7,000 small satellites in low Earth orbit. SpaceX has plans for 12,000 satellites over the coming years. Starlink is said to have more than 4 million worldwide subscribers.
Ron Paul obviously knew what Starlink was, and he might even be aware that Starlink has been a vital part of SpaceX’s success. However, what Ron Paul and most of the general public might not know is that SpaceX has become a key partner of the U.S. military and intelligence apparatus, and is helping them build a massive surveillance grid.
SpaceX, Starshield, and the Military-Industrial-CompleX
In September 2023, Bloomberg reported that SpaceX had received its first contract from the US Space Force to “provide customized satellite communications for the military” under SpaceX’s new “Starshield” program. The move, Bloomberg noted, would “extend” Elon Musk’s role as a “defense contractor”.
Starshield will offer service to the military for one year using SpaceX’s existing Starlink satellites. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told Bloomberg that the contract “provides for Starshield end-to-end service via the Starlink constellation, user terminals, ancillary equipment, network management and other related services.”
That is to say, the U.S. military and intelligence will be piggybacking off the Starlink satellites which are being sold to the average person as a convenient and fast way to access the internet.
The pursuit of military contracts is not a new feature of SpaceX’s business model. In 2002 it was reported that SpaceX had contracted with an undisclosed U.S. intelligence customer. More recently, Musk’s Starlink contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense for an undisclosed amount to provide Starlink communication to the Ukrainian military.
The official website for Starshield says the program is aimed at providing satellites to customers for processing encrypted communications, as well as capturing data about the Earth. Starshield also offers “satellites buses” for the “most demanding customer payload missions”.
While little else was known about the Starshield program at the time of its announcement, the public has learned more details about the program.
In February 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported on the existence of yet another contract between SpaceX and the U.S. government. The previously unknown 2021 contract was worth a whopping $1.8 billion, and related to the secretive Starshield satellite constellation. The U.S. government agency contracting with SpaceX was unlisted in the documents viewed by the WSJ.
“The size and secrecy of the agreement illustrate a growing interdependence between SpaceX—a dominant force in the space industry—and the national-security establishment,” the WSJ noted.
The WSJ also reported that Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO of SpaceX, acknowledged there was “very good collaboration between the intelligence community and SpaceX”.
In March, Reuters spoke to five sources with inside knowledge of a classified contract between SpaceX and an undisclosed U.S. intelligence agency. According to these sources, SpaceX is building a network of spy satellites with the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) as part of the previously reported $1.8 billion contract.
These same sources told Reuters that if the program is successful it would “significantly advance” the U.S. government and military ability to rapidly find targets “almost anywhere” on the planet.
By April the report appeared to be confirmed after it was announced that SpaceX would partner with long time military contractor Northrop Grumman on the classified spy satellite system. The project was apparently already capturing high-resolution pictures of the planet, according to “people familiar with the program” who spoke with Reuters. These same sources claimed the classified project was being developed by the National Reconnaissance Office.
The National Reconnaissance Office and SpaceX
The NRO is an intelligence agency within the U.S Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites for the government. The agency was founded in 1961 but its existence was classified secret until 1992.
The NRO provides satellite intelligence to several government agencies, including the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
In May, SpaceX carried out its first mission to help the NRO launch satellites into space. The headline “SpaceX launches first batch of new spy satellites for NRO” tells you everything you need to know. The number of satellites launched into orbit by the NRO and SpaceX were not disclosed to the public.
SpaceX’s Starlink now has more than 5,000 satellites orbiting Earth 🌎 up from 0 operational satellites at the start of 2019
Here’s what that journey looks like 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZPTXcXOhjg
— Evan (@StockMKTNewz) January 27, 2024
While the public has been watching with joy and awe as Elon Musk and SpaceX bring America into the “Space Race” of the next generation, Musk is actually launching spy satellites aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets.
“This mission is the first launch of the NRO’s proliferated systems featuring responsive collection and rapid data delivery. NROL-146 represents the first launch of an operational system following demonstrations in recent years to verify cost and performance,” the NRO said.
The third batch of satellites for the NRO were launched by SpaceX in September. Once again, the NRO’s satellites launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The latest partnership between SpaceX and the NRO came in October when the company was awarded contracts for nine launches under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program. The $733.5 million contract was for seven missions for the Space Development Agency (SDA) and two for the NRO which were projected to launch in late 2025 and 2026.
Some supporters of Musk might argue that he is simply being a smart businessman and cashing in on U.S. government money while remaining agnostic about how the technology he supplies is deployed. Not only is such an excuse a cop-out, and an attempt at absolving Musk and his cohorts of personal responsibility, it is utterly ignorant to deny the danger in supplying the world’s largest military with an even greater ability to spy on the world.
Take a look at the words of Christopher Scolese, the Director of the NRO, to understand the danger posed by Starshield. Scolese reports directly to both the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense.
In October, Scolese spoke at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies detailing how the NRO is planning to use the satellites provided by businesses like SpaceX.
“From last June to December of this year, we’ll have probably launched 100 satellites. So we are going from the demo phase to the operational phase, where we’re really going to be able to start testing all of this stuff out in a more operational way,” Scolese said at the time.
“What are they going to be doing? They are part of the proliferated architecture to go off it and get us reasonably high-resolution imagery of the Earth at a high rate of speed,” Scolese said. “Now you can’t hide because you’re constantly being looked at.”
However, Scolese warned that with such an influx of satellites in orbit and “heaps of data” coming in, humans won’t be able to keep up. Thus, he claimed, the NRO will get help from artificial intelligence (AI). No doubt Musk will be ready to offer some assistance in the form of data gleaned from Grok, the AI bot integrated into Twitter which has gathered billions of data points from the platforms hundreds of millions of users.
“Operating a proliferated architecture means that it’s no longer possible to go off and for an individual sitting at a control center to say, I know what the satellite is doing. So we have to have the machines to go off and help us there. We need artificial intelligence, machine learning, [and] automated processes to help us do that,” he said.
The NRO is yet another intelligence agency within the massive surveillance network operated by the U.S. government. The relationship between the NRO and Musk’s SpaceX and Starshield is obviously growing by the day. Musk is increasingly allied with the U.S. military and intelligence apparatus, and further entrenching himself and his companies as part of the Military-Industrial-Complex. This is why it is valuable to understand the man behind the Starshield spy satellite program.
The Man Behind Starshield
Starshield is part of SpaceX’s Special Programs Group, and the Vice President of SPG is retired Air Force General Terrence O’Shaughnessy. In 2020, after a 39-year career in the U.S. Air Force, Terrence O’Shaughnessy retired and later became a “Senior Advisor to Elon Musk on matters regarding SpaceX”.
Prior to joining SpaceX, O’Shaughnessy served with the Air Force, United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) where he was responsible to the President and Secretary of Defense. O’Shaughnessy was also reportedly responsible for the DOD supplying 16,000 medical personnel during the U.S. military National COVID response.
In a 2019 interview with National Defense University Press, O’Shaughnessy discussed the proliferation of low-Earth orbit satellites and the military’s relationship with companies like Starlink and One Web. This relationship, he said, is “something our military needs to take advantage of because of not only space access but also the significant decrease in the cost to reach space. We can also take advantage of the capability that’s going to be in LEOs for communications down the road.“
O’Shaughnessy called for “an intuitive sensing grid—from undersea, to maritime, to terrestrial, to air, to a space-based layer” which can “ultimately lead to a system of systems”.
However, he emphasized that this grid is brought together in a “resilient, redundant architecture” where the military can “effectively command and control” the “networked capabilities” they will have established an “all-domain sensor network, where anything can sense anything”.
“Information could be brought into a central data bank where that data could ultimately be used to come up with a defeat solution and that solution could be put independently out to a capability to defeat a threat,” O’Shaughnessy imagined.
It’s important to note that these statements were made by O’Shaughnessy before he retired from the military and joined SpaceX as an advisor to lead the Starshield program. Now that he has joined the “private sector” he can continue to bring to reality his vision for the military to establish an “all-domain sensor network” as part of an “intuitive sensing grid”.
The NRO’s History of Scandals: Billions of Dollars Lost, Secrets Stolen, & Invasions of Privacy
A Secret Agency’s Secret Budgets Yield Lost Billions, Officials Say, The New York Times headline read in January 1996. The story detailed how the NRO — which had only been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government four years earlier — had “lost track of more than $2 billion in classified money” in 1995.
One Senate intelligence committee aide blamed the lost funds on the NRO’s “own internal secrecy”. More than $1 billion in funds would eventually be found.
“Critics of the reconnaissance office said today that the money had been hidden in several rainy-day accounts that secretly solidified into a ‘slush fund’,” the Times reported.
Interestingly, the report states that the NRO “operates in the deepest secrecy” more so than any government agency. The Times describes the NRO as more a set of interlocking, compartmentalized groups operating mostly in the dark about what each other is working on. As of 1996, the NRO was running a “$28-billion-a-year ‘black budget,’ or classified above top secret, for military and intelligence programs”.
The Times notes that the NRO’s satellites in 1996 were capable of “transmitting detailed images from deep space, eavesdropping on communications and using radar to see through clouds.”
One month before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, former Air Force intelligence officer Brian P. Regan was arrested by FBI agents at Dulles International Airport for stealing classified materials from the NRO.
Regan had stolen classified materials, including photographs of Iraqi missile sites and “encoded tactical information” which he accessed through classified networks. The former intelligence officer buried the stolen materials in various underground locations. About 20,000 pages of classified documents, videotapes, and CDs were later found buried underground in Maryland and Virginia’s state parks.
The FBI did not disclose whether Regan was able to share the classified materials with other parties, but did claim he wanted to sell the information to Iraq, Libya, and China.
A decade later, in 2012, McClatchyDC released an investigation detailing how the NRO was accused of pressuring its professional polygraphers to obtain intimate details on the private lives of thousands of job applicants and employees.
“The National Reconnaissance Office is so intent on extracting confessions of personal or illicit behavior that officials have admonished polygraphers who refused to go after them and rewarded those who did, sometimes with cash bonuses,” McClatchy reported at the time.
The confessions collected by the polygraphers include drug use, child abuse, suicide attempts, depression, and sexual preferences. The NRO records the polygraph sessions and stores them in a private database.
McClatchy reviewed hundreds of documents, internal memos, and emails, and found that the NRO was pushing ethical and potential legal boundaries by establishing a database which tracks the number of confessions per applicant or employee and then uses the number of confessions extracted by polygraphers to grade them in annual performance reviews. The NRO was also accused of requiring employees and applicants to take multiple polygraph tests in an effort to obtain details about a wide range of personal behavior.
Bizarrely, while the NRO was reportedly interested in knowing the criminal background of its current and future employees, the agency did not turn over information to law enforcement when a contractor admitted to molesting a child. The contractor was a substitute teacher in Escondido, California and admitted to abusing a third-grade student in 2005. McClatchy reported that the NRO never contacted the Escondido Police Department or the school district where the man had been employed.
Finally, in December 2013 the NRO launched a reconnaissance satellite known as USA-247, NRO Launch 39 or NROL-39. While the launch of these satellites would usually go unnoticed by the general public, NROL-39 generated controversy after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) tweeted the logo of the satellite. The logo featured an animated octopus wrapping its tentacles around the world with the phrase, “Nothing is beyond our reach.”
Ready for launch? An Atlas 5 will blast off at just past 11PM, PST carrying an classified NRO payload (also cubesats) pic.twitter.com/ll7s0nCOPg
— Office of the DNI (@ODNIgov) December 5, 2013
“NROL-39 is represented by the octopus, a versatile, adaptable, and highly intelligent creature. Emblematically, enemies of the United States can be reached no matter where they choose to hide,” says Karen Furgerson, a spokesperson for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). “‘Nothing is beyond our reach’ defines this mission and the value it brings to our nation and the warfighters it supports, who serve valiently all over the globe, protecting our nation.”
Needless to say, the logo and the statement was perceived as insensitive and “tone deaf” following the Snowden leaks which were released only months earlier.
Elon Musk is a Technocrat Not a Hero
With a full understanding of the history of the National Reconnaissance Office, the Starshield program, and the extensive relationship between SpaceX and the military-intelligence networks, we can clearly state that Elon Musk is a tool for the Military-Industrial-Complex. Even further, Elon Musk is a Technocrat, a proponent of Technocracy, a system wherein management of governments is handled by technical experts, often involving technology-focused solutions.
Early proponents of Technocracy claimed that the concept would lead to better management of resources and the protection of the planet. However, this system of governance by technological experts and their technology would also involve a loss of privacy, as well as centralization of power and the management of all human behavior. Although the term appears to have been largely forgotten, the technocratic philosophy and influence can be seen everywhere in our modern digital world.
When we examine the world of 2024 we clearly see the signs of technocratic influence. For example, we can see this influence in the wealthiest companies and most influential CEOs. These individuals are running companies that have amassed large amounts of financial wealth, as well as unfathomable amounts of digital data on all of their customers.
From Jeff Bezos at Amazon, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, lesser known names at Google and Apple, and, of course, Elon Musk of Tesla/SpaceX/Twitter — we can see the technocratic ideology. In fact, Elon Musk has assigned himself the title of “technoking” at Tesla, a term similar to the Technocrat’s “Technate King”.
These men and their colleagues in various technological industries wield immense power through their companies, wealth, and cultural influence. These individuals have enough money, resources, and connections to shape elections, geoengineer the climate, and cause dips in the stock market, to name a few examples. They are the technocrat class of 2024.
Elon Musk is perhaps the most infamous technocrat who is now working directly with President-Elect Trump. He has advocated for implanting chips in human brains, transhumanism, turning Twitter into an “everything in one app” similar to China’s WeChat, merging with AI, and is now working directly with the U.S. military and intelligence to develop a classified spy satellite network.
What will it take to educate individuals who profess to love freedom and value privacy to reject Musk’s Starlink?
I don’t think you understand the complexities of the global “ecosystem” that is now in control of humanity.
A well written and researched article Derrick.
I tend to agree with your comment @Lance, without mention of IBM Watson there can be no meaningful clarity to events unfolding.
Not to mention complex adaptive systems.
IBM is one part of the global ecosystem.
IBM is a central pillar, a “Lorenz attractor”, surrounded by silent subsidiaries such as Microsoft and Accenture. How does the adage go? “I B M that I B M”
The article is very interesting but quite long and is missing one very big issue with this constelation of low orbit satelittes.
The article is very interesting but quite long and is missing one very big issue with this constellation of low orbit satellites.
To provide high speed internet connections and high resolution images these satellites need to broadcast non-stop huge amounts of microwave, electromagnetic radiations and radio frequencies.
Most likely 5G and 6G. Radiations which are extremely harmful for any form of life on the planet, including wildlife, humans and plants.
RFK who will also be part of the Trump administration has been fighting against 5G imposed and anarchic deployment for years, on earth and in space. How will he work with people like Musk who are increasing deadly radiations while building a spy network over our heads?
As much as we can sabotage the telecom destructive equipment on earth, we can’t reach the ones in orbit.
This is a nightmare come true, not only will they surveil us 24/7 but they will have the power to grill their enemies as they see fit.
But as long as the moronic masses can use X, meta and other social engineering and surveillance tools, browse porn sites and play games, all is fine…
The Communications Satellite Act of 1962 was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy on August 31, 1962. As far as those mentioned who are claimed to be opposed to 5g and 6g that you mention what they say and reality are two different things. According to a Zion Market Research publication put out in Nov. 2022, the global AI industry was expected to grow to $422.37 billion by 2028. This would be up from $59.67 billion in 2021. They estimated that 4.4 billion global users would adopt using “Mobile Wallets” by 2024. This is reality.
Sure but it doesn’t mean that these military technologies (5G) which will destroy life on earth have to be used for all these applications.
It’s like smoking,asbestos, fluoride or mRNA gene therapies posing as ‘vaccines’. They harm and kill people eventually and people start to take action and stop them long after they have been on the market presented as ‘safe and effective’ by those who profit from it or have an agenda (depopulation, transhumanism, surveillance, etc…)
It is not because the lying corporations, media and their government puppets gaslight us that we have to accept their diktats.
What is going on all over the world is not progression, it is regression. The more we sink into the digital totalitarian sewer, the more humanity regresses. Just look at the intellectual level of the younger brainwashed generations who spend their time on smartphones, special media and can’t even count, speak or write properly.
Technocracy leads to barbarism.
The reference to Terminator is quite correct, the technocrats have gone too far and preemptive strikes are now necessary to stop them.
Blowing-up their projects and facilities, figuratively and concretely are part of the options to save humanity from its inevitable doom if it keeps following this technocratic insanity.
Network of supercomputers to build AGI coming online by 2025
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/singularitynet-supercomputers-agi-2025/
The brain computer interface (BCI) or human machine interface (HMI) market represents an array of invasive and non-invasive innovative technologies which can decode neural signals, or in other words, read minds! These same technologies put thoughts into minds as well! You see, it’s a two-way communications “ecosystem”. AI will become that “small voice” inside your head!
What is this popular film from the 80’s where supercomputers and machines takeover the world and destroy human societies?
Terminator…
What was the name of the firm behind the terminators’ revolutionary chips?
google or meta? Singularity maybe, anyway some kind technocrat scumbag who think that they have the right to impose their sick techno-nightmares upon everyone.
What did the Resistance dot o stop them?
They blew their labs.
We know what to do to stop this insanity.
Science fiction, born out of the minds of carnal man, is becoming science fact at an exponential rate. As man’s knowledge increases the space between what is imagined and those imaginings becoming a reality is nearing the “zero point”. The techno-nightmare depicted in many old science fiction books and movies is becoming reality because carnal man’s advanced technologies are making this possible! What you’re suggesting “to do” is precisely what the actors playing the part of the “Resistance” in Terminator movie did! Science fiction is becoming reality!
The entire “Elon Musk” octopus is the “IG Farben” of Murica. The cabinet and staff of orange potus are all “connected” to this octopus. The IG Farben octopus threatens democracy openly: https://ibb.co/0sWYXLk
…and the fact that Musk Melon is a rabid zionist is “just a happy coincidence”.
T.I.M. This is Murica.
Zion is another word for Jerusalem. According to the testimonies in true prophets of God there’s the Jerusalem that many are trying to raise up, or “setup”, and there’s the heavenly Jerusalem that is to be established by God, the Father of Christ, on Judgment Day. I don’t know when that day is to come, nor does anyone else, and neither does Jesus, The Christ, which is also written in correct biblical testimonies. As far as Musk is concerned he is not a Zionist in any way. Why? Because he said, “With AI we are summoning the devil!”! He wasn’t joking around! He also said, “…we have to be very careful with Artificial Intelligence. It is potentially more dangerous than nuclear weapons.” Got new for ya! No one can dance with the “devil” and not get burned!
“…think of the incredible opportunities a mind – machine interface could bring. Downloading learning like the matrix. “Telepathic” communication. Math co-processing. Mind storage. Copying your mind into a virtual world for immortality. Endless possibilities…” Science Magazine@ScienceMagazine – 12/2022
I read your article and wonder where you have been doing the last thirty years. TheCabal is already doing what you claim Elon Musk wants to do. Everything we do digitally is saved by the NSA., so fearing Elon Musk because he is building very advanced Internet system. One of the reasons he is doing this with the support of the military is to bypass the existing totally corrupted global Internet. The StarLink system is a revolutionary effort to replace the current payment system owned and operated by the Central Banks, the same one that has “disappeared” billions of transfers with no recourse except by legal action, and when the won, they were only given an IOU. You are complaining… why? With Starlink we will have global satellite cell phone service with no downtime and much greater security than today. Criticizing Musk is okay, but you need to consider what is happening around us that is not Musk and provide a balanced perspective.
You do not understand what is really happening. Starlink is Skynet!
Glad to see you mention transhumanism at the end of the article. That’s the end game.
From April of 2022 – https://secularheretic.substack.com/p/the-musktwitter-story-no-one-is-talking
BTW, I tipped to comment on this post on Odysee and the comment did not go through.
You didn’t mention “SSI”, or “Self-Sovereign Identification”. In order for this ID system to work everyone will have to have a bioelectronic sensor, an “HMI”, or “Human Machine Interface” placed “on” them. Based on current available information it appears the location for this will be “on” either the right-hand or forehead. Without it you will not be “trusted” and will not be able to “buy or sell” in the global electronic marketplace.
The Surveillance Sky- Musk’s SpaceX Satellite Network: A Broader Perspective
Derrick Broze has highlighted concerns over the potential surveillance implications of Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite network, which critics argue contradict his stance as a free speech advocate. The article suggests that Musk’s Starlink system could be exploited by surveillance agencies. However, for a balanced perspective, it’s essential to consider this within the broader spectrum of global telecommunications and satellite operations. Here, military surveillance issues are not exclusive to Musk’s ventures but are widespread and ever present among all major technology and telecommunication companies and services, affecting our daily lives. Every time we use our phones or access the internet, the satellites facilitating these services are part of multiple contracts, including those for military surveillance, connected to an already established and continuously expanding global surveillance network.
Over decades, intelligence agencies and militaries worldwide have established vast infrastructures to monitor communications, track activities, and gather data. Satellite technology has been a critical component of the industrial military complex systems, with companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman playing major roles in deploying and maintaining reconnaissance and telecommunications satellites. These networks are already deeply integrated into global military and civilian operations, providing comprehensive coverage and strategic capabilities.
What Musk’s satellite network represents is not the creation of a new surveillance structure but an update on the existing one and which ever company puts out modern satellites into orbit will be expected to facilitate services for this ever expanding infrastructure. With thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit, SpaceX’s Starlink are new systems with the potential to provide greater data collection capabilities, real-time communication, and broader internet access to areas previously out of reach. The military will typically utilize modernization as a means of updating their current systems.
The PRISM Surveillance Ecosystem
Since the early 2000s, companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook have been implicated in government surveillance programs. Remember Alexa from Amazon? Alexa has always been used by Amazon as a back door device for spying on you in your private home. Forbes tech journalist TJ McCue published an article in 2019 warning people on the dangers of Alexa and how to protect your privacy.
The NSA’s PRISM program, revealed in 2013, involved these corporations in data collection efforts. Despite some denials, documents suggest that tech companies, including those part of PRISM, received financial support from the NSA to cover compliance costs.
Amazon has been collaborating with the NSA for over two decades, alongside other companies like Twitter, Google, Instagram, Microsoft, Skype, YouTube, and Facebook, whose servers are part of the PRISM network. This network was established post-9/11, ostensibly under the guise of combatting “domestic terrorism,” forming the basis for what some describe as illegal surveillance projects. It is even more alarming that Amazon recruited Keith Alexander, former National Security Agency chief and head of US Cyber Command, to its board of directors in September 2020, Alexander runs the nation’s cyberwar efforts.
Amazon’s Alexa serves as a poignant example of consumer devices being used for surveillance. Forbes tech journalist TJ McCue highlighted in 2019 how Amazon retains Alexa recordings indefinitely unless users manually delete them, raising significant privacy concerns.
Journalists and researchers have questioned if this relationship grants these companies, particularly Amazon, tax immunity and antitrust law leniency, explaining their significant influence, including the ability to remove even a sitting U.S. president from social media platforms.
Programs like PRISM have used various means to collect extensive personal and sensitive data from both Americans and foreigners, including personal records, communications, and even classified documents, without court orders, this is done by using various satellites in the current surveillance network.
The Deep State Connection
The public revelation of PRISM in 2013 exposed how tech giants were coerced into working with the NSA and FBI, using their platforms to gather intelligence. This marked the beginning of Big Tech’s gathering power through government partnerships, which continues to shape this technocratic system today.
Post-2013, the media has been silent on the discussion around PRISM and similar programs has waned, integrating these practices into everyday digital life, with profound implications for privacy and civil liberties.
In 2021, NSA whistleblower Kirk Wiebe, along with Mary Fanning and Alan Jones, attempted to report on election irregularities via foreign interference through satellite systems, but their story was censored or dismissed as fake news. This demonstrates the power Big Tech has over information dissemination, particularly when tied to intelligence interests. This power was also evident when Amazon Web Services took down Parler in 2021, revealing Amazon’s role not just as a commercial entity but as a potential front for agencies like the NSA and CIA, supporting deep state agendas.
Furthermore, transhumanism is not exclusive to Musk’s work, most of the world’s leading governments and military industrial complex have been funding neural network and microchipping programs for decades. The global government institutions and military’s interest in brain-computer interfaces and neuroscience research offers another layer to this discussion. For example, DARPA’s Brain Initiative, launched in 2013, seeks to advance technologies capable of understanding and manipulating brain activity. Other initiatives, like the Human Brain Project (established in 2013 by the European Union), aim to map and simulate human brain processes. These projects illustrate the ongoing pursuit of technologies that are capable of interfacing with satellite networks and surveillance systems.
Here are just a few examples:
The Whitehouse Brain Initiative
EOS Neuroscience
China’s Brain Project report
The Human Brain Project European Union
AI systems
AI systems like ChatGPT are already being integrated into these operations to manage large volumes of data more efficiently. For example, ChatGPT and other AI technologies are designed to process, analyze, and interpret complex datasets at speeds far beyond human capacity. These tools can extract patterns, identify trends, and prioritize actionable insights from vast quantities of unstructured data, making them invaluable assets for surveillance and intelligence operations.
In the context of satellite networks and agencies like the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office), AI can automate tasks such as real-time monitoring, threat detection, and anomaly recognition. For example, instead of human analysts reviewing terabytes of satellite imagery, AI can filter and highlight areas of interest, flagging unusual activities or environmental changes, its probably one of the main motivations for the development of AI systems for the purpose of significantly reducing the time of decision making and the cognitive strain on human data scientists. All technology that eventually becomes available for public use is first funded and developed for military purposes, just like the internet was, it would be naïve to assume otherwise.
SpaceX’s Starlink in the Surveillance Debate
The Last American Vagabond’s article argue that Starlink, with its extensive global coverage, possesses the capability to be used for surveillance purposes, much like other satellite networks are currently being utilized.
SpaceX’s contracts with the U.S. military, including providing Starlink services, highlights this dual-use potential; as is the same consideration with every satellite in orbit. These contracts include support for military communications in conflict zones which has both humanitarian and strategic implications.
Broze highlights that Musk’s company’s involvement with military and intelligence agencies presents an ethical conundrum and in conflict with Elon Musk positioning himself as a champion of free speech. This scenario is not unique to SpaceX and reflects the dilemmas faced by all communication systems, all tech companies and social media platforms deeply entrenched in government surveillance activities which itself needs to be addressed and scrutinized in the public arena.
However, there’s a notable difference with SpaceX’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter). Unlike other platforms like Facebook, which is known for selling user data to third-party agents for profit without user knowledge, X under Musk’s leadership has publicly stated a policy against selling private user information. This stance aims to separate X from the data monetization practices of some competitors, suggesting a different approach to user privacy despite the broader surveillance concerns tied to SpaceX’s satellite operations.
This situation reflects a broader industry trend where the line between tech innovation and surveillance go into blurred areas. Companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have similarly leveraged their technologies for both civilian and military purposes, often under contracts that involve complex surveillance capabilities.
The ethical considerations here are complex, involving the need for balance between technological advancement, national security, and individual privacy rights.
SpaceX, like all satellite operators, operates under regulatory scrutiny, which includes transparency mandates from bodies like the FCC.
Surveillance and military collaboration are not unique to SpaceX but are industry-standard practices, which calls for a deeper discussion on the responsibilities and ethical boundaries of tech giants.
Conclusion
While the concerns raised in The Last American Vagabond are not without merit, they reflect a broader issue of debate to be highlighted — of how modern technology; particularly in the telecommunications and aerospace sectors is typically intertwined with government surveillance and the fact the military industrial complex already had established an inappropriately large satellite surveillance network system in operation — obviously, with the more modern satellites launched into circulation; these will always be used for expanding the military industrial complex as is the nature of their goals.
The pervasive nature of this collaboration throughout the tech industry suggests that the problem is systemic, requiring not only scrutiny of Musk’s operations but a broader call for transparency, ethical standards, and public discourse on how technology should balance between innovation, security, and privacy rights.
Addressing these issues requires systemic changes and transparent policies that the public should be made aware of to ensure accountability and protect individual freedoms as technocracy is ever encroaching into our lives.
Elon Musk’s advocacy for free speech and open communication does not inherently contradict SpaceX’s compliance with international laws and regulations. Instead, it highlights the need for public discourse on the balance between the pace of technological advancements, security, and privacy in an increasingly interconnected world.
by
Carlita Shaw