The Space Data Network Backbone, built on Starshield satellites, is designed to link missile-defence sensors and interceptors in near real time.
The US Space Force has awarded SpaceX a $2.29bn fixed-price contract to build the Space Data Network Backbone, a secure, high-speed satellite communications layer intended to underpin the Trump administration’s Golden Dome missile-defence initiative. The contract was announced on Tuesday. SpaceX must deliver a fully operational prototype capability by the end of 2027.
The architecture rests on Starshield, the government-focused variant of SpaceX’s commercial Starlink constellation. Where Starlink is sized for broadband delivery to consumers, Starshield is hardened for defence use: encrypted links, optical inter-satellite communications, missile-warning sensors and target-tracking payloads.
The Space Data Network will use Starshield satellites to provide what the Space Force called the “high-capacity, low-latency data transport” needed to integrate sensor data from missile-warning satellites with interceptor weapons systems in near real time.
The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!The Golden Dome connection is what makes the contract politically loud. The missile-defence initiative, signed into being by President Trump in January 2025, envisions a multi-layer system to detect and destroy ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles before launch or during flight.
