President Donald Trump’s nominee as Air Force Secretary, currently a senior official at the National Spite Spite Agency, organized a Multibillion Dollars’ request in a way that favored Elon Musk’s Spacex, according to seven people known by the contract.
Changes in the requirements for the classified contract led the Agency Inspector General, the National Reconstruction Office, to investigate whether the official, Troy Meink, had properly directed the transaction to Spacex, told Reuters Reuters. Musk’s Spatial Entrepreneurship eventually won the contract in 2021. It is not clear whether the Inspector General completed a report or whether any investigation remains in development.
Neither the claims related to the contract nor the investigation of the Inspector General have been reported before.
A NRO spokesman emails the agency “does not have any knowledge of claims, protests or wrongdoing related to the procurement” referred to by Reuters. He refused to comment on “details about contractual relationships with industry partners or specific activities”.
Inspector General, Terrence Edvard, through NRO spokesman said that his office “does not provide any information about possible complaints or investigative activities”.
The claims come as Meink, an engineer and former military officer who has served as Deputy Director of NRO since 2020, awaits confirmation of his appointment to lead the Air Force. His name, two of the people told Reuters, followed a recommendation from Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur turned Trump’s adviser who has affected the White House appointments and caused anger over possible conflicts of interest because his companies , including spacex, do wide business with the Federal Government
Neither Musk and Spacex responded to commentary requests for this report. An Air Force spokesman referred to the White House questions. The White House press office did not respond to Reuters’ requests.
A Spacex Falcon 9 rocket is prepared for the start of Polaris Dawn, a private human space mission, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, August 26, 2024.
Joe Skipper | Reuters
During Meink’s time in NRO, Spacex cemented a strong relationship with the agency, people familiar with the contract told Reuters. The contract of 2021 was to develop hundreds of spy satellites to collect and transmit high -resolution images of military objectives and intelligence worldwide.
It was a major transaction for Spacex, deepening its links to American defense and intelligence services. Originally worth $ 1.8 billion, the contract is expected to be several times more as the satellite network is set. Reuters was unable to see the contract, which is classified; The government has not made details about the public nor confirmed the involvement of Spacex.
While competitive bids were being prepared by some other contractors, four of these people said, Meink changed part of the contract that actually made Spacex the company most appropriate to fulfill it. The changes, they added, were related to the kind of inter-sortal communication that Spacex could offer to the spy satellite network due to Starlink, its broad-generation commercial service, with about 7,000 satellites in orbit.
Reuters could not determine if the change was a deliberate attempt to prevent other bidders or if Spacex, the largest and faster increase in private space in the world, would have won the contract without it. However, the result was that “no one could compete with (Spacex) because no one else had a commercial constellation they could enter,” said one of the people with knowledge of the contract.
At the time, sources said, some of the people involved in the bid process complained to NRO officials, eventually leading to the inspector’s general investigation. In the case of L3Harris Technologies, a Contractor upset by the changes, Meink spoke directly with the company and said the future business with the agency could be injured if it presented an official protest, told three people acquainted with Reuters interaction.
L3Harris did not answer detailed questions from Reuters regarding the contract process. In an email statement, a spokesman said the company “watched NRO transform under the leadership of Troy Meink” and “we look forward to working with it as a new Air Force Secretary”.
Classified constellation of spy satellites is one of the most sought after developments of the US government in orbit. Designed to provide the most continuous, widespread and rapid coverage of activities on Earth, satellites are an essential element of US efforts to overcome China, Russia and other rivals for military and geopolitical advantage in space.
Over a hundred of the satellites for constellations have been launched since last year, according to data on pursuing public space and people familiar with the program. The constellation of the spy, set by the Starshield and Spacex unit, is distinct from Starlink, a commercial communication network with over four million clients. But the two satellite systems are designed to communicate with each other in space.