A SpaceX Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sept. 10, 2025. (Photo credit: SpaceX)
WASHINGTON — The Space Force has tapped SpaceX for two more launches, worth $1.6 billion, under its newly-expanded National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program, Space Systems Command (SSC) announced today.
NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 is the Space Force’s program for procuring commercial-style launches to: take payloads to easier-to-reach orbits; loft payloads with less mass; and/or support missions missions that are not absolute must-goes. Under the Lane 1 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract vehicle, pre-qualified vendors compete for task orders for individual launches.
The SpaceX task order is the first to be awarded since the service’s July 17 announcement of a massive $11.4 billion plus-up to the contract’s ceiling ― bringing the total amount to $17 billion ― to cover an increase in planned Lane 1 launches from 60 to 170 between 2025 and 2034.
The two new task orders cover launches in 2027 of an unknown number of satellites (SpaceX’s Falcon 9 often carries numerous birds to low Earth orbit) for the service’s Space Based Sensing and Targeting (SBST) portfolio acquisition executive (PAE) office, according to the announcement.
