All articles tagged with #space force
The Space Force awarded $615 million to Rocket Lab, Systems & Technology Research (STR), and a third contractor under SB-AMTI to develop a space-based airborne target-tracking network, including Rocket Lab’s Flatellites to be launched on its Neutron rocket and operated from secure facilities; the awards diversify suppliers and explore alternative sensing approaches alongside SpaceX’s initial AMTI constellation.
The U.S. Space Force selected 15 vendors for a six-year IDIQ contract (NITE-STAR) to compete for up to $981 million in task orders to build the National Space Test and Training Complex—a network for live, virtual, and constructive training that links on-orbit assets with ground systems and simulated threats, enabling realistic space operations and defense scenarios; the contract runs five years with a one-year option, and 20 bids were submitted.
The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract for 18 Falcon 9 launches to be completed by end of 2027 (about $89 million per launch). SpaceX stock rose briefly on the news but faced selling pressure and traded below its IPO price as investors weigh valuation and near-term earnings risk.
The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX two launch task orders worth $1.6 billion to conduct 18 Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg through 2027, supporting the Space Based Sensing and Targeting portfolio (including the Tracking Layer infrared satellites and the Space Data Network Backbone). SpaceX also leads major systems under separate contracts, underscoring its central role in the military’s next‑gen satellite networks and a rapid Lane‑1 procurement pace under the National Security Space Launch program.
Rocket Lab will establish a new launch site at Alaska's Pacific Spaceport Complex Kodiak under a $266 million Space Force contract for up to 18 suborbital missions (12 launches with an option for six more); the first flight is scheduled no earlier than the end of 2026. The Kodiak facility expands Rocket Lab’s military launch capacity alongside its New Zealand and Virginia sites and will support hypersonic and missile-defense testing using its HASTE suborbital vehicle.
ULA’s Vulcan Centaur grounding due to booster nozzle anomalies has prompted its corporate parents to guarantee up to $500 million in borrowings to bolster liquidity, with Lockheed Martin recognizing a $64 million increase in its investment to reflect the guarantee’s fair value. The issues stem from booster anomalies on two Vulcan launches, leaving Vulcan idle since USSF-87 as Northrop Grumman works on redesigned motors, Space Force considers manifest adjustments, and Atlas 5 flights continue while Starliner faces schedule uncertainty. ULA had planned a high launch cadence for 2026 but has a backlogged pipeline of more than 80 missions, and both parents say they may provide further liquidity if needed, though impairment risks exist if Vulcan underperforms.
The Space Force has raised the Lane 1 cap for its National Security Space Launch program to $17 billion and, with 25 additional Lane 2 missions identified, the combined ceiling for Lane 1 and Lane 2 now exceeds $30 billion as the Pentagon signals rising demand for military satellite launches; Lane 1 will broaden participation beyond SpaceX, ULA, and Blue Origin to include Rocket Lab, Stoke Space, Relativity Space, and Impulse Space, while Lane 2 remains limited to SpaceX’s Falcon 9/Heavy and ULA’s Vulcan for high-priority missions.
In his final address as Space Force chief, Gen. Chance Saltzman warns that war could move into orbit, pushing the service to build capable, combat-ready space forces and resilient satellite constellations. He outlines a shift toward space control, emphasizes deterrence based on capability rather than declarations, calls for stronger allied cooperation, and cautions that complex interoperability and procurement challenges require steady funding, long-term planning, and realistic expectations as Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess prepares to take over.
The U.S. Space Force added Relativity Space and Impulse Space to the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 pool, expanding pre-qualified options for lower-risk national-security missions; Relativity Space’s Terran R is a mid-lift candidate, while Impulse Space provides orbital transfer vehicles and the Helios upper stage to complement a partner launcher, signaling a shift to integrated transport services and greater commercial competition; Lane 2 remains for the military’s most demanding, fully certified missions.
A Space Force TacRS mission, Victus Haze, achieved its first tactical interception between two private spacecraft: True Anomaly’s Jackal-0004 and Rocket Lab’s Puma. Jackal conducted proximity ops, imaging, and tracking after Puma’s Puma/ Pioneer platform was launched by Rocket Lab on June 19, 2026 (Jackal launched earlier in May). The intercept beat the 72-hour deadline and wrapped up 11 hours early, with Jackal’s control handed to Mosaic for mission planning. This milestone demonstrates the collaboration between the U.S. Space Force and commercial partners to rapidly acquire and characterize orbital objects, a key capability for space-domain awareness and defense.
The U.S. Space Force, via its TacRS program, proved rapid-response space-launch capability by directing Rocket Lab to launch an unscheduled mission that placed a Pioneer spacecraft into orbit in 16 hours 42 minutes—fastest yet for a real payload—demonstrating how rockets can be scrambled like fighter jets to counter satellite threats, with three more TacRS missions planned from SpaceX and Firefly Alpha.
The Space Force’s Victus Haze test—launched quietly from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand site—demonstrates rapid, on-orbit inspection by maneuvering a Puma satellite to rendezvous with True Anomaly’s Jackal, aiming to shorten satellite fielding from years to days or hours with civilian partners.
The U.S. Space Force, via Space Systems Command and SpaceWERX, is exploring the design and viability of orbital warehouses to store fuel and supplies for servicing satellites, with plans for two on‑orbit demonstrations in 2027 to test in‑space logistics, propulsion, and depot operations. Highlighted efforts include Starfish Space’s US‑Otter 1 rendezvous/docking and Astroscale’s Provisioner refueler, all part of accelerating in‑space servicing and enabling rapid responses to space threats under the Objective Force 2040 roadmap.
K2 Space will provide the satellite platform for SES’s PTS-G entry while Rocket Lab will supply the spacecraft bus for Viasat’s PTS-G satellite, underscoring the Space Force’s effort to field a protected, commercially derived GEO satcom network in X- and Ka-band. The first production awards were about $437.7 million per prime to SES and Viasat to build and operate satellites for five years, with service expected in 2029. The program is structured as an IDIQ with a $4 billion ceiling, and additional orders are planned starting in 2028, with competition potentially open to other pool members beyond SES and Viasat.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn methane/LOX test at Launch Complex 36 ended in a fireball that shattered hangar windows about a mile away and damaged a weather facility, but it yielded crucial real‑world data on methalox blasts. Space Force and NASA will use the measurements to improve blast models and may shrink keep-out zones from the current 100 percent TNT equivalency as data accumulates, though the policy remains conservative for now. The Space Force estimates the blast danger area for such flights at roughly 7,174 feet in diameter (about two‑thirds of a mile) with debris up to half a mile away, and there were no injuries. With SpaceX, Stoke Space, Relativity Space and Blue Origin expanding methane-fueled rocket pads, the Cape Canaveral area is projected to support up to 500 launches per year by 2036.