Impulse Space plans to provide GEO rideshare missions using its Helios tug. Credit: Impulse Space
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force is widening the field of companies eligible to compete for national security launch contracts, adding launch startup Relativity Space and orbital transportation company Impulse Space to a roster of commercial providers as it looks to diversify how military satellites reach orbit.
The companies were admitted to the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 contract vehicle, making them eligible to compete for future task orders under the program, the Space Force said in a July 7 contract announcement.
Unlike a traditional contract award, admission to the Lane 1 Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity, or IDIQ, contract does not guarantee launch business. Instead, it places companies into a pre-qualified pool from which the Space Force can solicit bids for individual missions as they arise, provided participants meet the program’s flight-readiness requirements.
The additions expand a field that already includes SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab and Stoke Space.
