The US Space Force has awarded SpaceX a contract worth about $4.16 billion to design, build and deploy a low-Earth orbit satellite constellation dedicated to airborne target tracking. Managed by Space Systems Command, the program covers spacecraft development, payload integration, launches and progressive entry into operational service over several years.
The constellation is intended to provide persistent detection, tracking and rapid data relay of airborne targets such as aircraft or missiles, delivering near-real-time information to operational users. Operating in low-Earth orbit, the network is designed to complement existing air and missile defense architectures by improving coverage, responsiveness and resilience compared with ground-based sensors or higher-orbit systems.
This new capability is part of a broader Department of Defense strategy to proliferate military satellites in low-Earth orbit, reducing vulnerability to anti-satellite threats through larger, distributed fleets. The airborne tracking network is expected to comprise several dozens of satellites, in line with current proliferated LEO architectures, and to interface with other sensing and communication layers supporting air and missile defense missions.
The contract reinforces SpaceX’s position as a key industrial partner for US military space services, alongside its commercial Starlink activities, its Starshield derivative for government users, its roles in the Space Development Agency’s Transport and Tracking Layers, and a separate $2.29 billion award for the Space Data Network communications backbone.