SpaceX wins $4B deal to accelerate deployment of aircraft-tracking satellites
The U.S. Space Force has awarded a multibillion-dollar deal to SpaceX to speed up delivery of satellites that can track moving aircraft, drones and cruise missiles, the service’s acquisition arm announced Friday.
The $4.16 billion Other Transaction Authority agreement is for the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) program, which aims to develop and field a network of satellites carrying sensors that can continuously detect and follow airborne targets. The deal will allow the Space Force to field an AMTI constellation by 2028, Space Systems Command said in a press release.
The award follows the Space Force’s request for $7 billion to begin the procurement of SB-AMTI in fiscal 2027, although those funds hinge on Congress passing a reconciliation bill. The service is also working on a satellite constellation to track ground-based targets (SB-GMTI), although that effort is still in the research-and-development phase.
AMTI missions are traditionally executed by the Air Force using airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft, such as the legacy E-3 Sentry and now-retired E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System. The service has a program to field a replacement AWACS — known as the E-7 Wedgetail — although its fate is currently up in the air due to budget limitations.
The Space Force is developing SB-AMTI as a second option to replace the E-7 Wedgetail, representing another mission moving to the space domain. The goal is to solve survivability problems of current platforms that are vulnerable to enemy anti-access/area-denial capabilities, as well as eliminate operational blind spots.
“Designed as a complex system-of-systems, the SB-AMTI architecture integrates advanced space-based sensors, secure and rapid communication links, and resilient ground processing, reflecting a rapid and strategic shift toward deeper collaboration within the government space industrial base,” Space Systems Command said in the news release.
In April, the Space Force established a group of nine companies to compete for the SB-AMTI program. SSC noted that while the OTA to SpaceX will provide an initial capability, the service plans to award additional contracts in the next year to expand the vendor pool and enhance “capacity and capability for combatant commanders.”
“We will not leverage any one single provider; instead, we are partnering with a highly diversified pool of traditional and non-traditional vendors, each bringing various capabilities to support the SB-AMTI architecture, ensuring the Joint Force has access to a strong, competitive industrial base well into the future,” Col. Ryan Frazier, acting Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for space based sensing and targeting, said in a statement.
The deal comes after the Space Force earlier this week announced another SpaceX contract worth $2.29 billion to build a fully operational prototype of the service’s Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone by the end of 2027.
