SpaceX has won a lucrative contract to provide the US military with a means of distributing space-based sensing and targeting data, forming the \u201cbackbone\u201d of a rearchitected network after separate Pentagon initiatives stalled, officials announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Space Systems Command, the Space Force\u2019s primary procurement and acquisition center, announced<\/a> the $2.29 billion firm-fixed-price agreement, confirming long-simmering reports that the Pentagon was likely to tap SpaceX for a new communications network in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX\u2019s selection for the Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone contract \u201caccelerates the delivery of a resilient, high-speed communications network in space,\u201d Space Systems Command said in a statement.<\/p>\n The network will be based on technology originally developed for SpaceX\u2019s Starlink global Internet constellation. SpaceX already builds and launches specially designed satellites, called Starshield, for military applications. The SDN Backbone network in low-Earth orbit (LEO) will presumably use the Starshield platform.<\/p>\n \u201cThis award will enhance the network with an expanded optically interconnected mesh of satellites delivering worldwide tactical communications and broadband communication services,\u201d Space Systems Command said.<\/p>\n Col. Ryan Frazier, acting Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for Space-Based Sensing and Targeting, said the network \u201cleverages the best of commercial innovation<\/a>\u201d and will be a \u201chuge benefit and enabler\u201d for US military forces. The network \u201cacts as a core communications layer for the USSF war-fighting systems, ensuring our sensors and shooters are connected continuously, globally and securely,\u201d Frazier said in a press release.<\/p>\n Changing midstream<\/p>\n