A SpaceX Starshield internet system installed aboard the USNS Joshua Humphreys. Credit: Photo by Ryan Carter, MSC
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $2.29 billion contract to build a network of low Earth orbit satellites intended to function as a military internet in space.
According to a news release, the contract is for the development of a network known as the Space Data Network Backbone. Previously known as MILNET, these will be optically interconnected satellites that would transport military data through space rather than relying primarily on terrestrial relay networks or ground stations.
The award was issued by the Space Force’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Space-Based Sensing and Targeting, a newly established organization overseeing the broader Space Data Network, or SDN, effort.
The SDN backbone will serve as the “backhaul” layer of the architecture. In telecommunications terms, backhaul refers to the high-capacity movement of data between distributed networks. The satellites would relay large volumes of military data among spacecraft, sensors, command systems and weapons platforms.
