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SpaceX job posts hint at building satellite constellations for US military

SpaceX's first Starlink prototype satellites deploy from Falcon 9. (SpaceX)

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Published within the last week, unusual SpaceX job postings have begun to combine a range of topics unusual for the company, indicating some level of internal interest in entering into an entirely new industry and mode of operations.

Judging from the job descriptions, SpaceX is looking to hire engineers familiar with integrating third-party payloads onto in-house satellite buses, and they are primarily interested in engineers with Top Secret security clearances.

https://twitter.com/collinkrum/status/1002425606401736704

Given the subtlety of the relevant job postings and the apparent need for high-level security clearances to become involved, it’s extremely difficult to figure out what exactly SpaceX’s goals are. Still, they contain just enough detail to point in the direction of several obvious explanations. These revolve around one industry in particular: satellite operations and sales to or for third parties.

To some extent, these job listings are to be expected: SpaceX has extensive experience building spacecraft (Falcon 9 upper stages and Dragon) explicitly intended for internal use and operations only. Instead, what is surprising about these job listings is the presence of repeated references to “customer payload[s]” in the context of “satellite mission design”, “SpaceX-developed satellite constellations and payload missions”, the “simulation of remote sensing payloads and constellations”, and a need for “on-orbit commissioning” or “activation”.

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Put simply, there is no obvious explanation for why SpaceX would need any of those things, at least in the context of the company’s publicly-known activities and business interests. Taken individually, they might be explained by – as described in the same listings – “[SpaceX’s expanding] classified mission manifest”, as it’s well-known that SpaceX is in the process of certifying Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy to launch all practicable Air Force (USAF) and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payloads. Those payloads often need to be placed in high-energy orbits that rely on extended upper stage coasts between orbit-raising maneuvers, essentially requiring modifications to Falcon 9’s upper stage such that it becomes a sort of ad-hoc, short-lived satellite.

Starlink spinoffs

However, in all (conceivable) cases where SpaceX might launch a highly-classified payload for a government customer, the dynamic is still precisely that – launch provider (SpaceX) and customer (NRO/USAF/etc). Just like FedEx or UPS have no ownership of or relationship with the goods they transport, satellite launch providers are simply delivering a (very expensive, fragile, and irreplaceable) payload from Point A (the ground) to Point B (orbit). When UPS ships a new smartphone from the manufacturer to the customer, they most certainly do not perform an “in-house commissioning” – if the customer needs help setting up their new phone, they go to the manufacturer or service provider (cell carrier).

In the same way, satellite commissioning is a generally necessary process where the satellite manufacturer – rarely the actual operator or service provider – raises or fine-tunes the expensive spacecraft’s orbit and verifies that all systems and payloads are functioning as intended – only after that process is complete does the manufacturer finally ‘hand off’ the satellite to the customer that paid for it. In some cases, the manufacturer continues to maintain or at least monitor the satellite in the background as the owner serves its own customers, much like how military airplane manufacturers are typically contracted to maintain or support those planes even after final delivery.

Judging from the need for top-secret security clearance in nearly all of these new job postings, SpaceX clearly has a very particular sort of customer in mind. Be it DARPA, NRO, the USAF, or some totally unknown government actor, one or several of the above entities have expressed explicit interest in coopting SpaceX’s newfound status as a prospective dirt-cheap-satellite manufacturer. If that were not the case, SpaceX would not be keen to publish 5+ engineering job postings with top-secret clearance as an explicit prerequisite.

Iridium NEXT satellites form an arc during deployment, December 2017. (SpaceX)

Project Blackjack

Ultimately, it’s undeniable that the prospect of a completed vertically-integrated launch and satellite service provider could be so alluring that entities like the NRO, USAF, or DARPA simply could not pass up the opportunity to at least give it a try. From a purely speculative perspective, the services and processes SpaceX seems to be in the middle of developing are an almost perfect fit with DARPA’s (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) brand new Blackjack program. Perfectly summarized in September by Space News reporter Sandra Erwin,

“[DARPA] wants to buy small satellites from commercial vendors, equip them with military sensor payloads and deploy a small constellation in low-Earth orbit to see how they perform in real military operations.”

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DARPA awarded a $1.5M contract to smallsat manufacturer and operator Blue Canyon on in October 2018, small relative to the program’s roughly $118M budget. DARPA has made clear that it plans to finalize multiple contracts with different prospective satellite designers and operators in order to ensure a competitive environment, fuel growth in a fairly new industry, and pave the way for the final procurement of an experimental constellation of 20 satellites by 2021. If successful, it could completely change the way the entire US government procures national security-related satellites, offering a far faster, cheaper, and more flexible route to set up unique capabilities.


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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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SpaceX reaches incredible Starlink milestone

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX has reached an incredible milestone with its Starlink program, officially surpassing 10,000 satellites launched into low Earth orbit since starting the program back in 2019.

Last Sunday, October 19, SpaceX launched its 131st and 132nd Falcon 9 missions of 2025, one from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the other from Vandenberg, California.

The 10,000th Starlink satellite was aboard the launch from California, which was Starlink 11-19, and held 28 v2 mini optimized satellites.

The achievement was marked by a satellite tracker developed by Jonathan McDowell.

The first Starlink launch was all the way back on May 23, 2019, as SpaceX launched its first 60 satellites from Cape Canaveral using a Falcon 9 rocket.

Of the over 10,000 satellites in orbit, the tracker says 8,608 are operational, as some are intentionally de-orbited after becoming faulty and destroyed in the atmosphere.

SpaceX has truly done some really incredible things during its development of the Starlink program, including launch coverage in a global setting, bringing along millions of active subscribers that use the service for personal and business use, locking up commercial partnerships, and more.

Starlink currently operates in around 150 countries, territories, and markets and is available at least somewhere on all seven continents.

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Additionally, Starlink has over 5 million subscribers worldwide, and 2.7 million have joined the program over the past year. It has revolutionized internet access on commercial aircraft as well, as several high-profile airlines like Qatar and United, among many others, have already installed Starlink on some of their planes to deliver more stable connectivity for passengers and crew.

SpaceX has the approval to launch 12,000 Starlink satellites from the FAA, but it plans to bring over 30,000 to its constellation, giving anyone the ability to have access to high-speed internet.

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SpaceX posts Starship booster feat that’s so nutty, it doesn’t even look real

The Super Heavy booster’s feat was so impressive that the whole maneuver almost looked like it was AI-generated.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

SpaceX has shared a video of a remarkable feat achieved by Starship’s Super Heavy booster during its 11th flight test.

The Super Heavy booster’s feat was so impressive that the whole maneuver, which was captured on video, almost looked like it was AI-generated.

Super Heavy’s picture perfect hover

As could be seen in the video shared by SpaceX, Starship’s Super Heavy booster, which is nearly 400 feet tall, smoothly returned to Earth and hovered above the Gulf of America for a few seconds before it went for its soft water landing. The booster’s picture-perfect maneuver before splashing down all but capped a near-flawless mission for Starship, which is about to enter its V3 era with Flight 12.

The booster’s balance and stability were so perfect that some users on X joked that the whole thing looked AI-generated. Considering the size of Super Heavy, as well as the fact that the booster was returning from space, the hovering display all but showed that SpaceX is dead serious about keeping its dominant lead in the spaceflight sector.

Starship V2’s curtain call

As noted in a Space.com report, Flight Test 11 achieved every major goal SpaceX had set for the mission, including deploying Starlink mass simulators, relighting Raptor engines in space, and executing a stable reentry for both the Starship Upper Stage and the Super Heavy booster. The feat also marked the second time a Super Heavy booster has been reflown, a milestone in SpaceX’s quest to make the entire Starship system fully reusable.

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Starship’s V2 vehicle will now give way to the upgraded Starship V3, which is designed for faster turnaround and higher payload capacity. The Starship program is expected to pursue even more aggressive targets in the coming months as well, with Elon Musk stating on social media platform X that SpaceX will attempt a tower catch for Starship Upper Stage as early as spring 2026.

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Starship’s next chapter: SpaceX eyes tower catch after flawless Flight 11

Elon Musk has revealed the tentative timeframe for Starship’s next milestone that would push the spacecraft’s reusability to a whole new level. 

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Credit: SpaceX

Elon Musk has revealed the tentative timeframe for Starship’s next milestone that would push the spacecraft’s reusability to a whole new level. 

Following Flight 11’s flawless mission, Musk noted on X that SpaceX will be aiming to catch the Starship Upper Stage with its launch tower as early as spring 2026. This should pave the way for SpaceX to start optimizing Starship for maximum reusability.

Flight 11 closes the Starship V2 chapter on a high note

Starship’s eleventh flight, which launched from Starbase, Texas, achieved every major mission objective. The Super Heavy booster completed a successful ascent, hover, and soft splashdown in the Gulf of America, while the upper stage executed an orbit burn, deployed Starlink simulators, and returned with a controlled reentry over the Indian Ocean.

This mission officially closed the chapter on the second-generation Starship and first-generation Super Heavy booster, and it set the stage for a redesigned vehicle built for orbital payload missions, propellant transfer, and beyond. It should be noted that Elon Musk has mentioned on X that Starship V3, at least if things go well, might be capable of reaching Mars.

Elon Musk confirms tower catch attempt set for spring

After Flight 11’s success, Musk confirmed that SpaceX will attempt to catch the Starship Upper Stage with its launch tower arms, fondly dubbed by the spaceflight community as “chopsticks,” in the coming months. Musk’s announcement came as a response to an X user who asked when the tower could start catching the Starship Upper Stage. In his reply, Musk simply wrote “Springtime.” 

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Starship’s reusability is a key feature of the spacecraft, with SpaceX aiming to achieve a launch cadence that is almost comparable to conventional aircraft. For such a scenario to be feasible, launch tower catches of both Starship’s Upper Stage and its Super Heavy booster have to be routine.

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