SpaceX Secures New Contracts Worth $733.5 Million For National Security Space Missions (spacenews.com) 10
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Space News: SpaceX has been awarded contracts for eight launches under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program, the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command announced Oct. 18. The contracts worth $733.5 million span seven missions for the Space Development Agency (SDA) and one for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) projected to launch in 2026. These are part of the NSSL Phase 3 procurement of launch services for U.S. defense and intelligence agencies.
The NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 program is structured as an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, a flexible procurement method often used in government contracting. The total value of the Lane 1 contract is estimated at $5.6 billion over five years, with Blue Origin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) selected as the primary vendors to compete for individual task orders. The Space Development Agency is utilizing SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket to launch small satellites into a low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation, a network of satellites designed to enhance military communications and intelligence capabilities. SpaceX has already completed two successful launches for the Tranche 0 portion of SDA's constellation.
"The Phase 3 Lane 1 construct allows us to execute launch services more quickly for risk-tolerant payloads, putting more capabilities in orbit faster to support national security," said Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, program executive officer for Assured Access to Space at the Space Force. Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket has yet to perform its first launch and will need to complete at least two successful flights to qualify for NSSL certification, while ULA's Vulcan Centaur, which has completed two flights, is still awaiting final certification for the program.
The NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 program is structured as an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, a flexible procurement method often used in government contracting. The total value of the Lane 1 contract is estimated at $5.6 billion over five years, with Blue Origin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) selected as the primary vendors to compete for individual task orders. The Space Development Agency is utilizing SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket to launch small satellites into a low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation, a network of satellites designed to enhance military communications and intelligence capabilities. SpaceX has already completed two successful launches for the Tranche 0 portion of SDA's constellation.
"The Phase 3 Lane 1 construct allows us to execute launch services more quickly for risk-tolerant payloads, putting more capabilities in orbit faster to support national security," said Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, program executive officer for Assured Access to Space at the Space Force. Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket has yet to perform its first launch and will need to complete at least two successful flights to qualify for NSSL certification, while ULA's Vulcan Centaur, which has completed two flights, is still awaiting final certification for the program.
$700 million?! (Score:2, Funny)
That's an awful lot of money.
Why, you could buy a third of a mobile launcher for that, or a sixth of a single SLS launch.
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$700 million?! That's an awful lot of money. Why, you could buy a third of a mobile launcher for that, or a sixth of a single SLS launch.
I guess we’ll just forget about the $700 billion spent across two decades of R&D to get to that $700 million dollar multi-launch price point. Doesn’t fit a narrative punch line so well.
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For the military and the three letter agencies, that's peanuts.
Remember: they don't have to be frugal because it's your money they're spending, not theirs.
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This is why we can't have nice things.
2024 Space Farce budget - $30 billion
2024 NASA budget - $24 billion
2024 Pentagon budget - $850 billion
All NASA budgets since creation, combined, including Apollo - $675 billion
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Trump owns Elon Musk.
Whoever associates with or roots for Trump is an enemy of democracy. When it's random Joes with zero influence on anybody or anything, it's sad but it's harmless. When it's billionaires with an extraordinary influence on US internal and foreign affairs, it's alarming.
If you can't see the danger, you must be one of the aforementioned Joes, in which case arguments of logic and constitutionality will do nothing to convince you that your orange prophet and his friends are ruining this count