Space Force taps SpaceX to build sensor-to-shooter network
▼ Summary
– SpaceX won a $2.29 billion firm-fixed-price contract from Space Systems Command to build the Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone for the US military.
– The network will provide resilient, high-speed communications in low-Earth orbit, using technology from SpaceX’s Starlink constellation and the Starshield military platform.
– The SDN Backbone is intended to replace stalled Pentagon initiatives and will be an optically interconnected mesh of satellites for tactical and broadband services.
– The network will act as a core communications layer, connecting US Space Force sensors and shooters continuously, globally, and securely.
– This contract shifts away from the Space Development Agency’s earlier strategy of rapidly procuring satellites from multiple companies every two years.
SpaceX has secured a major contract with the U.S. military to build and operate a sensor-to-shooter network that will serve as the central communications layer for a restructured space-based targeting system, following the collapse of earlier Pentagon initiatives. The deal was confirmed Tuesday by Space Systems Command.
The Space Force awarded a $2.29 billion firm-fixed-price agreement to SpaceX for the Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone, a project that had been anticipated for months. In a statement, Space Systems Command said the selection “accelerates the delivery of a resilient, high-speed communications network in space.” The network will rely on technology derived from SpaceX’s Starlink global broadband constellation. For military use, SpaceX already builds and launches specialized satellites under the Starshield brand, and the SDN Backbone in low-Earth orbit (LEO) is expected to use that platform.
“This award will enhance the network with an expanded optically interconnected mesh of satellites delivering worldwide tactical communications and broadband communication services,” Space Systems Command said.
Col. Ryan Frazier, acting Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for Space-Based Sensing and Targeting, described the network as a “huge benefit and enabler” for U. S. forces. He said it “leverages the best of commercial innovation” and “acts as a core communications layer for the USSF war-fighting systems, ensuring our sensors and shooters are connected continuously, globally and securely.”
The selection marks a significant shift from earlier Pentagon planning. The Space Development Agency (SDA), created in 2019, had begun launching prototype satellites for missile-tracking and data-relay missions in 2023. SDA’s strategy relied on rapid, two-year procurement cycles and a broad industrial base, using satellites and sensors from multiple companies. That approach, which aimed to field new generations of tracking and transport satellites quickly, has now been partially sidelined in favor of SpaceX’s single-platform solution for the backbone network.
(Source: Ars Technica)
