Matthew Nelson
SpaceX has received an $8.9M contract modification to provide the U.S. Space Force with access to the company’s civil and commercial space programs, SpaceNews reported Saturday.
The military service will carry out engineering surveillance on SpaceX’s space vehicles that are intended for non-National Security Space missions through the modification.
The service branch aims to optimize mission assurance for Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 NSS rocket launches through the modification.
The company initially received a potential $297M contract in February 2019 to deploy National Reconnaissance Office and U.S. Air Force satellites into orbit. The contract also requires SpaceX to provide analysis and access to its launch vehicle systems.
SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites in April, expanding its broadband internet constellation to a total of 422 satellites.
