The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX two task orders totaling $1.6 billion for 18 Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base through the end of 2027, the largest single batch to date under the service's National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program. The missions will deploy the constellation supporting Washington's Space Based Sensing and Targeting (SB-AMTI) initiative, feeding near-real-time tracking data to the Joint Force.
Fastest Lane 1 Award Yet
Space Systems Command said it went from requirement identification to award in just two months, a pace it calls unprecedented for national-security launch. The task orders land days after the Space Force expanded the Lane 1 ceiling from $5.6 billion to $17 billion, roughly tripling the number of planned commercial launches to 170 through 2034.
SpaceX Widens Pentagon Lead
The award pushes SpaceX past $7 billion in Pentagon contracts this year and layers on top of the $2.29 billion low-Earth-orbit communications network deal it received in May. The Falcon 9 workhorse will handle every mission from Vandenberg, tightening SpaceX's grip on West Coast national-security launch cadence. It follows a similar-scale Rocket Lab award in late July for its own Space Force flatellite constellation and expanding MDA Space constellation work.
Sensing And Targeting Push
"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 U.S. Space Force's Space Access Office. The satellites feed into a joint targeting mesh the Pentagon is racing to field alongside sibling programs from SpaceX's direct-to-cell push.
Reporting based on coverage from The Defense Post, SpaceNews and Breaking Defense.