SpaceX, Blue Origin, ULA Win Space Force Contracts Worth Up to $13.7B

Trio of launch providers is awarded a total of 54 national security spaceflight missions over about five years.

Jack Daleo

Monday, April 07, 2025 at 12:11 PM ET

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Jack Daleo

The U.S. Space Force launches a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. [Courtesy: Joshua Conti/U.S. Space Force]

Key Takeaways:

SpaceX, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) secured $13.7 billion in National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 2 contracts from the Space Force for approximately 54 missions.
Blue Origin received its first NSSL contract, totaling about $2.4 billion for seven missions, significantly increasing competition for critical national security launches.
These contracts, spanning an order period from FY 2025 to FY 2029 for missions anticipated between FY 2027 and FY 2032, aim to ensure continuous and resilient access to space for demanding U.S. payloads.

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Launch providers SpaceX, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance—a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin Space—on Friday snapped up billions of dollars in national security launch contracts.

Space Systems Command, the branch of Space Force responsible for development, acquisition, launch, and logistics, estimated the value of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 contracts—which cover about 54 missions—at $13.7 billion. SpaceX and ULA each are expected to receive north of $5 billion for about 28 missions and 19 missions, respectively. Blue Origin, which was not part of the NSSL Phase 2 cohort, is expected to secure about $2.4 billion for seven mission awards beginning in fiscal year 2026, the second year of a five-year order period (FY 2025 to FY 2029).