SpaceX won a $2.29 billion contract from the U.S. Space Force to build a network of low Earth orbit satellites designed to function as a high-speed military communications layer in space, the service announced Tuesday.
The program, called the Space Data Network Backbone, will serve as the connective tissue linking military assets in orbit. Starshield satellites — the government-oriented version of SpaceX's Starlink technology — will form the backbone of the system, routing military data between orbital platforms, sensor networks, command nodes, and weapons systems rather than funneling it through ground-based intermediaries. SpaceX secured the award under an Other Transaction Authority agreement — a contracting tool frequently associated with accelerated development — and is obligated to have a fully operational prototype ready no later than the close of 2027.
According to the Space Force, integrating the new backbone with the Space Development Agency's Transport Layer constellation is intended to produce what officials called a single, interoperable framework for moving critical military data. To date, the SDA has contracted for upward of 300 Transport Layer satellites across its first two tranches, splitting that business among several companies. Before moving ahead with Tranche 3, however, the Pentagon overhauled its approach and redirected attention to the Space Data Network, a pivot that critics noted would funnel a disproportionate share of forthcoming satellite purchases to a single vendor.
The Space Force said it plans to identify additional contractors for satellite construction and other network elements and has established a consortium intended to coordinate interoperability standards among vendors.
Pentagon planners have positioned the network as a cornerstone of Golden Dome, the Trump administration's proposed layered missile defense architecture. At its core, the connectivity the SDN provides is meant to dramatically shorten the time between a satellite detecting a missile threat and that data reaching the interceptors or command nodes responsible for a response — the kind of tight integration that defense officials refer to as closing the sensor-to-shooter loop.
"The SDN Backbone leverages the best of commercial innovation and delivers a strong foundation for the SDN mission set — a huge benefit and enabler for our warfighters," Space Force Colonel Ryan Frazier, the acting portfolio acquisition executive overseeing the program, said in a statement.
According to the Space Force, the administration's FY2027 budget submission earmarks roughly $1.5 billion for SDN backbone research and development, with an additional $2.38 billion set aside on the procurement side to grow out the satellite mesh and supporting ground systems.
The contract adds to SpaceX's growing government business as the company publicly filed its S-1 registration statement with the SEC, formally beginning the process of listing on the Nasdaq $NDAQ under the ticker SPCX. SpaceX generated $18.67 billion in revenue in 2025, with its Connectivity segment — anchored by Starlink — accounting for $11.39 billion of that total.