SpaceX was awarded an eight-launch, $733 million contract by the U.S. Space Force on Friday, as part of an ongoing program intended to foster competition among launch providers.
The award includes seven launches for the Space Development Agency and one for the National Reconnaissance Office, all anticipated to use Falcon 9s and occur no earlier than 2026.
The massive new contract is part of a U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC) program with the catchy name of “National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1.” This third round of contracts was split into two lanes last year: Lane 1, for lower-risk missions and near-Earth orbits; and Lane 2, for heavy-lift missions and the more demanding orbits.
The Space Force selected SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and (somehow, despite not getting to orbit yet) Blue Origin to compete for launches under Lane 1 earlier this summer. At the time, the Space Force acknowledged that the pool of awardees was small, but that it aimed to account for this by allowing companies to bid on Lane 1 on an annual basis. The next opportunity to join Lane 1, which has a total expected value of $5.6 billion over five years, will be later in 2024.
In a press release announcing the contract, Lt. Col. Douglas Downs, SSC’s materiel leader for space launch procurement, said the force expects to see “increasing competition and diversity” with the ability to on-ramp new providers.
The Phase 3 Lane 1 award period is from fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2029, with the potential for a five-year extension. The Space Force anticipates awarding at least 30 missions over that period. The SpaceX win may seem like a foregone conclusion this time, but with new launch companies and vehicles coming online in the next few years, the competition may heat up soon.
