Elon Musk’s SpaceX has secured two contracts worth $1.6 billion to provide 18 military rocket launch services for the US Space Force.
Awarded by the Space Systems Command, the deals support Washington’s broader effort to modernize orbital sensing, targeting, and near real-time communication satellites for the joint force.
The task orders were issued under the National Security Space Launch program’s Phase 3 Lane 1 track, which serves as the military’s commercial procurement model for lower-risk national security missions.
The award builds on the space force’s recent expansion of the Lane 1 contract ceiling from $5.6 billion to $17 billion to meet evolving launch requirements.
Activities will leverage SpaceX’s Falcon 9 two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle, with lift-offs located at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and scheduled to run until 2027.
“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,” said Col. Eric Zarybnisky, acting portfolio acquisition executive of the Space Access Office at the US Space Force.
Zarybnisky added the task orders also highlight the speed of the Lane 1 acquisition roadmap.
“We have set an unprecedented two-month acquisition timeline under the Phase 3 Lane 1 contract from requirement identification to award,” he said. “Ultimately, this timeline results in the speed our warfighter demands more than ever before.”
Major Space-Based Efforts
The awards follow a similar contract signed by Rocket Lab in late July to facilitate up to 18 launches in support of the US Space Force’s missile defense programs.
In May, SpaceX also received a $2.29-billion contract to develop a secure communications network for the service’s low Earth orbit satellite constellation backing low-latency data relay for the US Armed Forces.
