Russia has said it is aware of US intelligence efforts to use commercial satellite operators such as SpaceX and has cautioned that such moves made their satellites legitimate targets.

The Reuters news agency reported this month that SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with a US intelligence agency, demonstrating deepening ties between Elon Musk’s space company and national security agencies.

Elon Musk’s company SpaceX reportedly has a $1.8 billion classified contract with an unnamed U.S. government agency, expanding its work 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.

SpaceX is deepening its ties with U.S. intelligence and military agencies, winning at least one major classified contract and expanding a secretive company satellite program called Starshield for national-security customers.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is deepening its ties with U.S. intelligence and military agencies through classified contracts ranging in the billions of dollars.

SpaceX has long been a major partner for the U.S. in launching military satellites, but documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal show the company entered into a massive $1.8 billion classified contract with the U.S. government in 2021. SpaceX will not publicly clarify the government agency behind the contract.

New reporting about intelligence related to Russia wanting to put a nuclear weapon into space, possibly to use against satellites, raises key questions about the country's intentions and the potential ramifications of an orbital detonation.

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 -- signed by Russia, the U.S. and numerous other countries -- technically still bans putting any weapons of mass destruction in outer space, including nuclear arms.

One question appears to be what Russia might be considering deploying that falls short of that ban.

What is the space-based nuclear weapon that the United States has warned Congress and allies in Europe that Russia could use against the West's satellites?

The exact nature of the weapon - and whether it actually exists - is unclear. But threatening satellites could cause all sorts of mischief - undermining communications, surveillance, intelligence and command and control around the world, including in the nuclear sphere.

Ukrainian military intelligence said Russian forces increasingly use Starlink terminals on the frontline, a new twist in Kyiv’s uneasy relationship with Elon Musk’s internet service.

Intercepted conversations between Russian troops in the occupied Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine indicate they had Starlink devices installed for internet access, the Ukrainian defense ministry intelligence directorate said Sunday on its website.

Russian occupiers in Ukraine have commandeered some Starlink terminals and are using them for communications, Ukrainian officials say.

Starlink, a company owned by billionaire Elon Musk, sent terminals to Ukraine soon after Russia's invasion in February 2022, and they have been key to ensuring the stability of Ukrainian communications. Nevertheless, some terminals have been taken by Russian forces.