SpaceX Wins $1.6 Billion for 18 Space Force Falcon 9 Launches by 2027
Updated
Updated · Breaking Defense · Jul 29
SpaceX Wins $1.6 Billion for 18 Space Force Falcon 9 Launches by 2027
3 articles · Updated · Breaking Defense · Jul 29
Summary
$1.6 billion in new Space Force task orders gives SpaceX 18 Falcon 9 missions by 2027 to launch Space Based Sensing and Targeting payloads from Vandenberg.
The award is the first since the service raised the NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 contract ceiling to $17 billion from $11.4 billion and expanded planned launches to 170 from 60 for 2025-2034.
Those Lane 1 orders cover lower-risk national security missions using commercial-style procurement, with pre-qualified vendors competing for individual launch task orders.
The SBST portfolio includes the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program, which the Air Force sees as a way to complement the E-7 Wedgetail against increasingly sophisticated anti-access threats.
The launch award adds to SpaceX's broader SB-AMTI role after a separate $4.16 billion task order in May aimed at accelerating that satellite program.