Who said that SpaceX is only good at building and lifting Starlink satellites into orbit? Elon Musk’s space agency is now getting involved in creating missile tracking satellites for the US military. Space X has been awarded a contract from the Space Development Agency (part of the US Department of Defense) to build the satellites, and the space agency will receive over $149 million to get the job done.
An infrared sensor packing a wide field of view will be the satellites’ guide, as it can be even able to track hypersonic missiles.
L3 Harris will create the satellites
L3Harris Technologies (commonly known as L3Harris) is an American defense contractor and information technological services provider that also creates tactical radios, wireless equipment, night vision equipment, avionics and electronic systems, C6ISR systems and products, and both terrestrial and spaceborne antennas for use in the government, defense, and commercial sectors.
Oddly enough, almost half of the world population is still lacking any sort of internet connection in 2020. This is utterly unacceptable for the modern era that we’re all living in, where computers operate everything. SpaceX knows this very well, and it started an ambitious plan on May 23, 2019 in order to solve the situation once and for all.
Elon Musk’s company began by launching 60 Starlink satellites into orbit at that time, and the purpose was to provide internet access for remote regions across the planet. This move represents only a tiny part of a much bigger plan – the goal is to send 12,000 Starlink satellites into orbit. If everything goes as planned and there will be no major hindrances, the number will even exceed 42,000 satellites.
The most offline countries on the planet are now India with 685 million people and China with more than 582 million people that aren’t connected to the internet.
