Elon Musk’s Space X is competing with 15 companies, including Viasat Inc., for $900 million in work orders through 2028 under the Space Force’s new “Proliferated Low Earth Orbit” contracts program, which is tapping into communications services of satellites orbiting from 100 miles to 1,000 miles (160 kilometers to 1,600 kilometers) above Earth.

Space Force 2023 contract

The Starshield service will be provided over SpaceX’s existing constellation of Starlink communications satellites.

The previously undisclosed “task order” adds by U.S Space Force technology to SpaceX’s growing portfolio of U.S. space force business. SpaceX satellites competition against United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co., to send up national security payloads, as well as a June Pentagon’s U.S. space force contract of undisclosed value to provide Starlink satellite communications to the Ukraine military and a Falcon 9 launch of 13 satellites this month for the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency.

Musk’s role in Ukraine received criticism after a new biography disclosed that he refused a request from Ukraine’s government to extend Starlink coverage to Russian-held Crimea to assist in a naval drone attack on Russian targets last year.

SpaceX satellites used by Space Force

That was before SpaceX was put on contract by the U.S. Space Force to provide Starlink service to Ukraine. But Musk’s decision and moves including his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin sparked questions from some lawmakers about his reliability as a Pentagon supplier of SpaceX satellites, including an inquiry being opened by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“SpaceX is a prime contractor and a critical industry partner for the DoD and the recipient of billions of dollars in taxpayer funding,” a group of Democratic senators said in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about Elon Musk’s Space X . “We are deeply concerned with the ability and willingness of SpaceX to interrupt their service at Mr. Musk’s whim and for the purpose of handcuffing a sovereign country’s self-defense, effectively defending Russian interests.”

SpaceX’s one-year contract for Starshield was awarded Sep 1, according to Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek. The contract, with a $70 million ceiling, “provides for Starshield end-to-end service via the Starlink constellation, user terminals, ancillary equipment, network management and other related services,” she said.

Elon Musk on Space Force news

By Sep 30 about $15 million will be obligated to Elon Musk’s Space X with funding that supports 54 “mission partners” across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, she said.

SpaceX didn’t respond to a request for comment on the Space Force news on new contract. But in a message on Musk’s social media platform X, he wrote on Wednesday that “Starlink needs to be a civilian network, not a participant to combat. Starshield will be owned by the U.S. government and controlled by DoD Space Force.”

SpaceX’s Special Projects

U.S. Space Force Starshield falls under the SpaceX’s Special Projects group, whose vice president is retired Air Force General Terrence O’Shaughnessy, former head of U.S. Northern Command. He joined the company in October 2020, shortly after he retired from the Air Force, according to a U.S. Ethics in Government filing. Before retiring, he recused himself in May 2020 from any SpaceX dealings, the forms indicate.

The Space Force’s Starshield contract “is for a service” but “how SpaceX or any other company” provides “that service is up to them,” Lieutenant Colonel Omar Villarreal, a Space Force spokesman, said in an email. “I am unable to get into specifics, but requirements were received from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and other outside agencies” and combined, he said.

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Lockheed Martin’s contract by the U.S. Space Force covers manufacturing, assembly, integration, testing, and delivery of the three Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared satellites by May 2028.  The company will also provide ground mission sensor processing and unique software platforms to the service branch and support NGG SV rocket integration as well as launch and early on-orbit checkout efforts, the DoD said Monday.

“The primary mission of [Next-Gen OPIR] satellites is to provide initial missile warnings of a ballistic missile attack on the U.S., its deployed forces, and its allies, according to Space Force budget documents. “Next-Gen OPIR Space enhances detection and improves reporting of intercontinental ballistic missile launches, submarine launched ballistic missile launches, and tactical ballistic missile launches.”

The Space Force said the Next-Gen OPIR satellites will expand and eventually replace the coverage provided by existing Space Based Infrared System satellites, which were also manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The first Next-Gen OPIR satellite could launch as early as 2025.

The SBIRs were criticized in 2017 by vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and former head of U.S. Strategic Command, Gen. John Hyten who infamously described the satellites as “big juicy targets” for enemy anti-satellite weapons (ASAT).

Defense official have tried to accelerate the NG-OPIR program by asking the Congress to pour $623 million for speedy prototyping. The DoD wants $2.3 billion for OPIR development in fiscal 2021 alone.

The Next-Gen OPIR satellites come with more powerful sensors and other features that make them resilient against attacks than current satellites.

“A space program of this size — which includes developing two entirely new missile warning payloads — has never moved this fast,” said Tom McCormick, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for overhead persistent infrared systems.

Separately, the DoD put approving Lockheed Martin’s $398 program of full-rate production of F-35 on hold, citing combat-testing delays since 2017.

The US Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center will obligate $99 million on the award. Lockheed Martin’s space business will perform work in Sunnyvale, California, through May 31, 2028.

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