According to a recent Reuters report, Elon Musk signed a $1.8 billion contract in 2021 with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to launch a system of orbiting surveillance satellites.

According to the report, “if successful, the sources said the program would significantly advance the ability of the U.S. government and military to quickly spot potential targets almost anywhere on the globe.”

Remind me again exactly when Elon Musk bought the Twitter platform.

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) – 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.

The plans show the extent of SpaceX’s involvement in U.S. intelligence and military projects and illustrate a deeper Pentagon investment into vast, low-Earth orbiting satellite systems aimed at supporting ground forces.

If successful, the sources said the program would significantly advance the ability of the U.S. government and military to quickly spot potential targets almost anywhere on the globe.

The contract signals growing trust by the intelligence establishment of a company whose owner has clashed with the Biden administration and sparked controversy over the use of Starlink satellite connectivity in the Ukraine war, the sources said.

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The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, SSCI, is the epicenter of the larger intelligence apparatus that controls government.  It was/is the SSCI who helped to create the weaponized system we call the Fourth Branch of Government.  The SSCI is the institutional origin where the outcomes of the FISA courts, domestic surveillance, and downstream consequences of the Patriot Act are supported and facilitated.

Because of their unique role in creating our national security state, where U.S. citizens are regarded as the potential threat to the interests of that state, the SSCI is a unique stakeholder in retaining the corrupt systems of domestic surveillance power.  No institution within the elected legislative branch of government has done more to destroy the freedom and constitutional protections within the U.S. than the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

The intelligence community interacts with the SSCI with that benefactor/beneficiary alignment in mind.  This is why the SSCI claims such bipartisanship, and why the corporate media herald the SSCI as an important functional tool. Without the assistance of the SSCI, the U.S. domestic surveillance state could not exist.  When the IC feels threatened, they run to the SSCI for protection.

The chair (Warner) and vice-chair (Rubio) of the committee are also members of the Gang of Eight, intelligence oversight group.  It is laughable to see Senator Mark Warner decry the possibility of national security leaks and compromises within the classified document issue.  Warner himself was the most consequential leaker during the Trump-Russia investigation (Wolfe leak of FISA application), and the SSCI facilitated everything that happened in the Mueller investigation.  [WATCH, Transcript Below]

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: Let’s start on the news of the moment. I know the two of you were briefed by the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. Do you have any timeline in terms of when you will get visibility into the documents of classified material that both President Biden and President Trump had in their residences?

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After the successful manned launch of the NASA SpaceX mission to the International Space Station President Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks to the audience at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.  Anticipated start time 5:00pm ET.

UPDATE: Video and Transcript Added

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. Please. Please. Big day. This is a big day. And I want to thank our great Vice President for your fearless and tireless commitment to fulfilling America’s destiny in space. Thank you very much, Mike. Great job. Great job. (Applause.)

We’re also grateful to Mike’s wonderful wife, Karen, for being here and for all she does for our country. Thank you. Thank you, Karen. (Applause.)

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History will unfold today as NASA and SpaceX launch astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station. This mission marks the first time since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011 that humans will fly to the space station from U.S. soil.  Targeted Launch Time 3:22 pm EDT  – Livestreams Ongoing

NASA and SpaceX are providing live coverage from launch to arrival at the space station. Teams are targeting an instantaneous window of 3:22 pm EDT for the launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Crew Dragon is scheduled to dock to the space station May 31st.

NASA Livestream Link – SpaceX Livestream Link – CSPAN Livestream Link

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UPDATE 4:00pm Mission Scrubbed due to weather

History will unfold today as NASA and SpaceX launch astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station. This mission marks the first time since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011 that humans will fly to the space station from U.S. soil.  Targeted Launch Time 4:33pm EDT  – Livestreams Ongoing

NASA and SpaceX are providing live coverage from launch to arrival at the space station. Teams are targeting 4:33 p.m. EDT for the launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Crew Dragon is scheduled to dock to the space station at 11:29 a.m. Thursday, May 28.

NASA Livestream Link – SpaceX Livestream Link – CSPAN Livestream Link

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From the White House – Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts Christa Koch and Jessica Meir during the first all-woman spacewalk from the International Space Station (ISS). Both Koch and Meir were members of NASA’s 2013 astronaut class, half of whom were women. Koch is currently serving on an extended mission to the ISS and is scheduled to achieve the record for the longest stay in space by a woman. The President was joined on the call by Vice President Mike Pence, Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. [Video Below]

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[Transcript] THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Okay. Thank you very much. I think we’re getting ready to do something very exciting. Jim, do you want to take over?
ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Sure. So this is a —
OPERATOR: Christina and Jessica, please stand by for a call from the President of the United States.
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Today President Trump is participating in the formal establishment of US Space Command as a unified combatant command, ie. “space force”.
The President is expected to deliver public remarks for the first time since returning from the G-7 Summit in France and since the Justice Department Inspector General released the report on former FBI Director James Comey’s handling of the Russia investigation. Anticipated Start time 4:15pm EST

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The United States and NASA celebrate 50 years since the Apollo 11 moon landing.  On this incredible anniversary Vice-President Mike Pence and historic astronaut Buzz Aldrin discuss the past (Apollo) and future (Artemis) of space exploration.

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Earlier today, during an informal presser in the Oval Office, President Trump commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.  In addition to the Apollo event, the president took questions from media. [Video and Transcript below]

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[Transcript] PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. Tomorrow is a very big day because tomorrow will represent 50 years from the time we planted a beautiful American flag on the moon. And that was an achievement — possibly, one of the great — considered one of the great achievements ever. And we’re going a lot further now. We’re going to the moon but we’re then going to Mars.
And I think, very importantly — and all of you folks know that, from a standpoint of defense, so important, where we’re going to be doing the Space Force. I assume you guys are all a fan of the Space Force, right? I’d be very surprised if you weren’t. But that’s where it’s at.
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Earlier today President Trump signed Space Force Policy Directive #4 and held a brief presser in the Oval Office.  [Video and Transcript Below]  During questions, President Trump answered a variety of questions on: McCabe, China, N-Korea and Bernie Sanders.

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[Transcript] 2:11 P.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT: Okay, thank you very much. I had a great conversation this morning with President Moon of South Korea. And we obviously discussed the upcoming trip next week, where we’re going Hanoi, in Vietnam. And I look forward to be with Chairman Kim, and I think a lot of things will come out of it.
We had a tremendous first summit. That was really breaking the ice, but a lot of things came from that, including good relationships. And we’re looking forward to having a very good meeting. And President Moon and I discussed, I think, probably every aspect of the meeting; it was a good conversation. I’ll be speaking tomorrow with Prime Minister Abe of Japan, and we’ll be having a similar conversation. So I think next week is going to be very exciting.
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