The U.S. House Pressure on Friday introduced it’ll assign 5 of seven essential army missions for the approaching fiscal yr to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The awards are a $714 million boon to SpaceX, underscoring the corporate’s continued dominance over Pentagon house contracts, regardless of Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump’s public falling out earlier this yr.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) will undertake the 2 different launches; it was awarded $428 million for 2 launches, in response to a press launch seen by House Information.
SpaceX pulls forward on Pentagon launches
The awards are made beneath the Nationwide Safety House Launch Program, which earlier this yr chosen SpaceX, ULA, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for 54 missions scheduled between fiscal 2027 and 2032 as a part of its Nationwide Safety House Launch Program (NSSL)—contracts price $13.5 billion.
“House is the last word excessive floor, essential for our nationwide safety,” stated U.S. House System Command official Col. Eric Zarybnisky in a launch, per Air House and Forces.
“We proceed to guarantee entry to that top floor. Delivering belongings to the warfighter is our final mission, and we depend on our robust government-industry partnerships … to efficiently obtain that purpose,” Zarybnisky stated. Quick Firm has reached out to the House Pressure for remark.
The missions assigned to SpaceX embrace launches for a communication satellite tv for pc, three categorized payloads, and a reconnaissance satellite tv for pc. The House Pressure makes its awards two years prematurely, so these launches will seemingly take off in 2027.
Blue Origin pushes for Mars mission
The awards additionally underlined the truth that Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket—the corporate’s rival to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy—has but to be licensed for nationwide safety launches. “No missions had been assigned to the third supplier, Blue Origin, which has its subsequent alternative for a mission in FY27,” House Methods Command stated in a press release, per SpaceNews.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn is slated to launch a NASA mission to Mars as quickly as the tip of this month—delayed since 2024—that might carry it nearer to receiving certification, nevertheless.
