Elon Musk's SpaceX won its first contract from the US Space Force to provide customized satellite communications for the military under the new Starshield program.
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SpaceX's New Responsibility
Bloomberg reported that SpaceX is in competition with 15 other companies for "Proliferated Low Earth Orbit" contracts program. The main goal of the program is to tap into the communication services of satellites that orbits from 100 miles to 1,000 miles above the Earth.
The Starshield contract is valid for one year and was awarded last September 1. The $70 million ceiling contract will help the Starshield's end-to-end service via the Starlink constellation, user terminals, ancillary equipment, network management, and other services.
The new contract will be an addition to SpaceX's growing Pentagon business. Currently, SpaceX is in competition against the United Launch Alliance that is tasked to send up national payloads. In addition, the company is also in contract to provide Starlink satellite communications to the Ukraine military. The launch of Falcon 9's 13 satellites this month is also under the Pentagon's Space Development Agency.
Starshield and SpaceX Mission
Musk announced the new on his platform X last September 8, "SpaceX is building Starshield for the US government, which is similar to, but much smaller than, Starlink, as it will not have to handle millions of users. That system will be owned and controlled by the US government," he wrote.
Meanwhile, the Space Force clarified that the Starshield contract "is for a service" and that SpaceX has the final say on how to conduct the service. By September 30, about $15 million will be released to SpaceX along with funding that supports 54 "mission partners" from Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
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