Space Force Awards SpaceX $1.6 Billion for 18 Comms and Targeting Satellite Launches

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

The Space Force has awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract to conduct 18 launches for communications and targeting satellites by the end of 2027.

Space Systems Command (SSC) announced on July 29 that it would issue two task orders to the company as part of Phase 3 Lane 1 of its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program. All 18 launches will fly on SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

Rapid Acquisition Timeline

“We have set an unprecedented two-month acquisition timeline under the Phase 3 Lane 1 contract from requirement identification to award,” said Col. Eric Zarybnisky, Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Space Access, in a statement. “This includes the one-month period for the launch service providers’ proposal preparation. Ultimately, this timeline results in the speed our warfighter demands more than ever before.”

Satellite Programs

The satellites are part of the Space Based Sensing and Targeting Portfolio, which includes:

• Space-Based Air Moving Target Indication program
• Space Data Network

These are two high-priority Space Force programs. While SSC’s release did not identify those programs by name, it highlighted the importance of both missions.

“Sensing and targeting of airborne objects from space and providing near-real-time communications across the joint force, are vital to the defense of our nation,” Zarybnisky said. “The rapid acquisition capabilities provided by our NSSL Phase 3 dual-lane approach allows us the flexibility to deliver satellites for our warfighters in an increasingly efficient manner.”

Previous Contracts

Along with providing launch services for the programs, SpaceX had already been awarded contracts in late May worth a total of more than $6 billion to build satellites for both efforts.

NSSL Lane 1 Program Growth

The Space Force uses its NSSL Lane 1 contracting mechanism to launch national security payloads with less stringent mission assurance requirements. The new SpaceX launch contracts follow an announcement earlier this month that the service expects demand for Lane 1 launches to nearly triple from 60 missions to 170 over a five-year ordering period.

The service started awarding Phase 3 launch services in fiscal 2025 and expects to issue new, competitive task orders to its vendor pool through at least fiscal 2029.

“The total number of estimated missions has now increased to approximately 170 due to the growing demand to deliver critical capabilities to orbit for the nation and warfighter,” an SSC spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine on July 22. “As a result, it was necessary to increase the … contract value in response to the new estimated mission quantities expected to be ordered under the Phase 3 Lane 1 contract.”

Approved Lane 1 Vendors

The service has approved seven companies to compete for missions under its Lane 1 contract:

• SpaceX
• United Launch Alliance
• Blue Origin
• Stoke Space
• Rocket Lab
• Relativity Space
• Impulse Space

To qualify for Lane 1 competition, a company’s rocket must have flown, or the firm must have a credible path toward flight. All of the companies are on a path toward flight in the next year or two, but to date, only SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin have rockets that have launched at least one mission. However, due to separate anomalies, both ULA’s Vulcan and Blue Origin’s New Glenn are not currently flying.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org