Elon Musk's SpaceX is getting tighter with American intelligence and defense agencies

Documents reported by The Wall Street Journal show the contract will eventually become a major part of the company’s revenue. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning.

SpaceX’s work with intelligence and defense agencies dates back to the company’s early days, when it won a launch contract with an unnamed U.S. intelligence agency in 2005.

In March 2022, thousands of the company’s Starlink satellite internet terminals were sent to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion of the country, as U.S. officials sought to keep the Ukrainian government online in anticipation of Russian physical and cyberattacks. Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request in 2022 showed that government contractor DAI began searching for equipment to help Ukraine starting on Feb. 11 of that year. The U.S. Agency for International Development initially purchased 1,333 terminals for Ukraine, while SpaceX donated 3,600 terminals.

Musk and the Russian government last week denied reports by Ukraine’s military intelligence agency that SpaceX was selling the broadband internet terminals to Russia for its troops. SpaceX also removed a number of Starlink satellites from orbit recently, after finding an unspecified defect in the early versions.

A military version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet network, Starshield, received a Pentagon contract worth up to $70 million in September, but not much is known about the unit’s work.

“When I’m never sure what I can say in a public forum, I tend to zip it,” Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s chief operating officer, said in May. “But I can say that there is very good collaboration between the intelligence community and SpaceX.”