The U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) said on Monday that space exploration technology company SpaceX has won a $149 million contract to produce missile tracking satellites for the US Department of Defense. This is the company’s first government contract to manufacture satellites.
SpaceX has always been known for developing reusable rockets and spacecraft, and is now working to increase the satellite production of its Starlink Internet project. The company’s CEO Elon Musk hopes that the satellite network will generate enough revenue to fund SpaceX’s interstellar goals.
An SDA official said that, as required by the contract, SpaceX will use its Starlink satellite factory in Redmond, Washington to manufacture four satellites and install wide-angle infrared missile tracking sensors provided by subcontractors.
At the same time, technology company L3 Harris won a $193 million contract to help the US Department of Defense build four other satellites. The two companies are expected to deliver the satellites for launch in the fall of 2022.
These contracts are part of the first phase of SDA’s procurement of satellites for the detection and tracking of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Intercontinental ballistic missiles can fly over long distances, and tracking and intercepting them is very challenging .
In 2019, the U.S. Air Force paid SpaceX US$28 million in funding, hoping to use its fledgling Starlink satellite network to test encrypted Internet services on multiple military aircraft. However, the US Air Force did not order any Starlink satellites.
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