Space firms continue to build up their backlogs as the national security sector looks toward commercial providers for network expansion.
Most of the award money so far in 2024 came from the U.S. Space Force, which contributed $9.4 billion of the $15.9 billion in large contracts tracked by Connectivity Business News.
The Space Force in June announced an aggregate $7.2 billion in awards of $50 million or more to space and connectivity providers, including two contracts worth $1 billion or more:
- A June 13 contract valued at up to $5.6 billion to SpaceX, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance for national security satellite launches; and
- A June 7 contract valued at $1 billion distributed among 20 companies to develop satellite ground system software.
The Space Force in March said it was planning to award $20 billion to commercial space companies this year.
The U.S. Navy also added wireless carrier T-Mobile as one of seven recipients of a contract with a total value of $2.7 billion for its Spiral 4 wireless and telecommunications services vehicle. Fellow wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon and satcom provider Hughes Network Systems also announced they were selected for the program.
SDA contracts contributed $3.5 billion to the backlogs of satellite companies between January and April. Millenium Space Systems on April 30 announced a $414 million SDA contract to build eight missile tracking satellites for the agency’s FOO Fighter (Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter) constellation.
Some $3.1 billion was divvied among defense contractors L3Harris Technologies and Lockheed Martin and NewSpace firms Rocket Lab and Sierra Space in January for expansion of the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture constellation.
CBN has tracked five contracts valued at $400 million or more awarded by the SDA in 2024, and six awarded by Space Force.
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