The US Space Force’s Space Systems Command announced Friday it has ordered eight launches from SpaceX in the first batch of dozens of missions the military will buy in a new phase of competition for lucrative national security launch contracts.
The eight launches are divided into two fixed-price “task orders” that Space System Command opened up for bids earlier this year. One covers seven launches with groups of spacecraft for the Space Development Agency’s constellation of missile tracking and data relay satellites. The other task order is a single mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, the US government’s spy satellite agency.
Two eligible bidders
The parameters of the competition limited the bidders to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA). SpaceX won both task orders for a combined value of $733.5 million, or roughly $91.7 million per mission. All the missions will launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, beginning as soon as late 2025.
