US Space Force Triples National Security Space Launch Contract Value to $17 Billion

It seems as though $5.6 billion wasn’t enough. That was the news from the US Space Force on Friday, when military officials announced they were tripling the maximum value of one of the service’s National Security Space Launch contracts to $17 billion.

The expansion of the Space Force’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 contract comes as the Pentagon signals rising demand for military satellite launches. The NSSL program is set up to allow Space Systems Command, which oversees the Space Force’s launch program, to select from a pool of launch providers for individual missions to deliver the military’s satellites to orbit.

The NSSL program has two parts. Lane 1 covers the Space Force’s more risk-tolerant missions, such as medium-lift launches with experimental payloads or rideshare missions carrying satellites for the Pentagon’s surveillance or data relay constellations. Lane 2 includes higher-priority strategic missions, like the government’s largest and most expensive spy satellites, or radiation-hardened communications satellites designed to survive a nuclear war.

Lane 1 is open to commercial launch providers without requiring extensive certification and oversight from the Space Force. This is the part the Pentagon has now authorized for $17 billion in launch procurement expenses. Missions in Lane 2 can only launch on rockets that go through the military’s lengthy certification reviews. Only SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket are certified for Lane 2 missions.

More money for more launches

There are more launch companies qualified for Lane 1 contracts. Space Systems Command originally selected SpaceX, ULA, and Blue Origin for Lane 1 in the Phase 3 round of the NSSL program in 2024. Rocket Lab, Stoke Space, and most recently, Relativity Space and Impulse Space were added to the roster of companies competing to launch Lane 1 missions. The Space Force issues a request for bids on a number of Lane 1 missions each year, and then doles out individual fixed-price “task orders” to the winners. SpaceX has won the lion’s share of Lane 1 task orders to date, and Blue Origin won its first earlier this year.

The Space Force originally estimated the Lane 1 launch providers would compete for at least 30 task orders over a five-year period. Officials put a ceiling of $5.6 billion on the Lane 1 contract to cover these 30 missions. The Space Force capped the Lane 2 contract at $13.7 billion last year, a number officials thought was sufficient to cover an estimated 54 launches projected for procurement through 2029.

But things have changed rapidly. In April, Space Systems Command said it had identified 25 additional Lane 2 missions on top of the 54 included in the original contract just one year before. Now, the Space Force is tripling the maximum value for the Lane 1 contract. The service has not said how many more missions it expects to order in Lane 1 beyond the initial estimate of 30.

With Friday’s announcement, the combined maximum value of Lane 1 and Lane 2 has reached more than $30 billion, and the number is likely to climb again. Space Force officials have not publicly identified exactly what missions they plan to add to each of the NSSL contracts. But there are a few obvious programs driving the military’s rising launch demand.

One is the Space Force’s recent award of multibillion-dollar contracts to SpaceX for the deployment of numerous satellites for the Pentagon’s Space Data Network and Airborne Moving Target Indicator programs. The SDN and AMTI satellite constellations will provide global connectivity and targeting information for US forces. Another is Golden Dome, the Trump administration’s proposed missile defense shield, which is expected to include an untold number of space-based missile warning sensors and space-based interceptors.

The Trump administration requested $71.1 billion for the Space Force in fiscal year 2027, up from approximately $40 billion allocated for fiscal year 2026. The House Appropriations Committee’s draft 2027 budget for the Pentagon includes $55.5 billion for the Space Force, somewhat less than the White House’s request. The Senate has not released its Pentagon budget bill.