In a significant development for the American aerospace sector, Blue Origin—a space company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos—successfully launched its New Glenn rocket on January 16, just days ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The rocket, named after John Glenn, the Mercury astronaut who was the first American to orbit the Earth, thundered into the Florida night from Cape Canaveral’s historic launch complex 36.
Despite a failure to bring the booster rocket back for further use, the successful launch represented a pivotal moment for Blue Origin, intensifying its competition with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for dominance in American spy satellite operations.
During the Trump administration, both companies are poised to play major roles in placing spy satellites into Earth orbit, suggesting that the U.S. intelligence community may increasingly depend upon Bezos and Musk for managing one of the most complex and costly operations in modern espionage.
Musk and Bezos have solidified their positions of power through lucrative contracts with the U.S. intelligence community, many of which were awarded prior to Trump assuming office.
This shift marks a radical departure from traditional U.S. spy operations, which have typically been governed by career officials closely aligned with long-standing defense and intelligence contractors such as Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman.
These corporate giants have dominated the lobbying landscape in Washington, making the emergence of Musk, Bezos, and a cadre of other pro-Trump billionaires in the intelligence realm particularly noteworthy.
The relationships these tech titans have developed with Trump may make intelligence civil servants more hesitant to deny them increasingly larger contracts, especially in light of Trump’s history of dismissing inspectors general who have scrutinized Musk’s businesses across various government sectors.
Musk has reportedly been forming alliances with other pro-Trump billionaires to tap into the lucrative defense and intelligence market.
SpaceX is collaborating with Palantir, a data analytics contractor co-founded by Peter Thiel, and Anduril, a defense contractor established by 32-year-old Palmer Luckey, among other Silicon Valley firms, aiming to change the dynamics of the industry dominated by traditional players.
Critics of Silicon Valley’s emerging dominance in U.S. intelligence suggest the narrative from these tech entrepreneurs oversimplifies the complexities involved in the defense and intelligence sectors.
Shyam Sankar, Palantir’s chief technology officer, argued that consolidation within the defense industry has stifled innovation, dubbing the process one of “Consolidation bred conformity.”
Greg Treverton, a former director of the National Intelligence Council, echoed similar sentiments, noting that while the idea of overhauling the contracting process was initially intriguing, it has since devolved into a power play fueled by greed under the Trump administration.
Defense analyst Peter Singer cautioned against what he described as “instant experts,” warning that these figures often approach complex issues with an oversimplified, black-and-white perspective.
“Elon Musk has emerged as a major and controversial player in the Trump administration, gaining an outsized influence in the U.S. intelligence community despite a lack of formal experience in that sphere.
SpaceX is now among the primary contractors responsible for launching American spy satellites as it seeks to neutralize a competitive edge held by the United Launch Alliance—a collaborative endeavor between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
In addition to its role in space launches, Musk’s Starlink—commercial satellite communication network—has become an essential tool in U.S. foreign policy, providing internet access in remote areas, including Ukraine, where it enables communication within the Ukrainian military.
This facet of Starlink’s operations places Musk at the heart of ongoing tensions between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Moreover, Musk’s dual capacity as both a national security influencer and a contractor is raising eyebrows, particularly following a private Pentagon briefing on March 21 and a visit to CIA headquarters shortly thereafter.
Despite SpaceX’s current lead in the spy satellite domain, Blue Origin and Bezos are aggressively pursuing opportunities to catch up.
Bezos’s move toward aligning with Trump—offering praise and financial support—positions him favorably within the spy satellite and intelligence sectors, especially amid ongoing tensions with Trump over critical coverage from the Washington Post, which he owns.
Bezos has been entrenched in the spy world for over a decade through Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud-computing arm of Amazon he founded, and where he continues as executive chair.
AWS initially secured a $600 million contract managing the CIA’s classified cloud in 2013, which it later expanded when awarded a $10 billion contract for the NSA’s classified cloud in 2022, under the program code-named “Wild and Stormy.”
The rise of Palmer Luckey and other Silicon Valley personalities reflects a wider trend of young entrepreneurs looking to make their mark in the defense sector alongside established figures like Musk and Bezos.
Luckey’s Anduril has already secured contracts with the U.S. Army for developing futuristic virtual reality headsets intended to enhance battlefield communication and operational control.
Additionally, Anduril won a $642 million contract with the Marine Corps for countermeasures against small drones earlier this year.
Luckey’s backing of Trump, which began in the contentious political climate of 2016, has paid off, allowing him to now promote his America-first ideology without the resistance he initially faced in Silicon Valley.
“America needs to be the world’s gun store, rather than the world police,” Luckey asserted in a recent interview, affirming his stark political views.
Historically, Google has distanced itself from involvement in defense and intelligence projects, publicly committing to limits on artificial intelligence used in warfare or surveillance.
However, this commitment was notably rescinded earlier this year, signifying a shift in Silicon Valley’s approach as emerging tech leaders pursue significant contracts in defense and intelligence.
Margaret O’Mara, a tech industry historian at the University of Washington, noted that Silicon Valley’s connection to military and defense industries has deep roots, tracing back to the inception of the high-tech industry itself.
“Silicon Valley has always been in the business of war,” O’Mara stated, emphasizing the cyclical entwining of technology and defense.
image source from：https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/06/trump-musk-billionaires-influence-national-security
