Elon Musk's SpaceX secures $1.6 billion order for 18 Falcon 9 missions carrying Pentagon satellites by 2027—All we know
Elon Musk's SpaceX has secured a $1.6 billion worth order from the United States Space Force for 18 Falcon 9 missions by 2027, increasing its total contracts from the Pentagon to $7 billion this year.
Billionaire Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX on 29 July won orders worth $1.6 billion from the United States Space Force for 18 Falcon 9 missions through 2027, according to a Reuters report.
The launches will carry Pentagon satellites that detect and target airborne objects, the US Space Force said in its statement, it added.
SpaceX gets $1.6 billion contract — What we know
- According to the report, the 18 missions were assigned to SpaceX across two task orders under the US Space Force's flagship launch procurement program.
- The program has inducted SpaceX, United Launch Alliance (ULA), Blue Origin and other US launch firms for lucrative mission assignments.
- The SpaceX award announced on Wednesday was part of an “unprecedented two-month acquisition timeline,” Space Force acquisition official Eric Zarybnisky said in a news release.
- For years, the service has sought to ramp up the pace with which it buys spacecraft and rocket launches from the private sector. SpaceX has maintained a wide lead over rivals for Pentagon contracts.
- SpaceX has bagged at least $7 billion worth of Pentagon contracts this year as the Trump administration has laid groundwork for its Golden Dome missile defense shield, a roughly $185 billion multi-year endeavor heavily featuring Elon Musk's launch and satellite company.
- In May, SpaceX also won $6.5 billion worth of satellite contracts from the US Space Force — $4.16 billion for a network of airborne moving target indicator satellites and $2.29 billion three days later for communications satellites that can pass data between missile warning and tracking sensors to interceptors in near real time.
Pentagon looking to diversify vendors
In recent years, some US lawmakers have raised concerns that the Pentagon may be relying too heavily on a single vendor, the report added. Space Force officials in turn have said they want to stimulate more space industry activity and competition.
ULA, the joint rocket venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin and a longtime Pentagon contractor, has been ensnared in a months-long technical investigation into a faulty booster separation system on its flagship Vulcan rocket, which is certified to launch Pentagon satellites.
Blue Origin, the space company owned by Jeff Bezos, is investigating what caused its New Glenn rocket to suddenly explode on a launchpad in May ahead of its fourth flight. The rocket, also part of the Space Force's launch program, will be grounded until at least the end of the year.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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