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AzerNEWS Staff

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The United States Space Force has signed a contract worth 4.16 billion dollars with SpaceX to develop a constellation of satellites designed to track and monitor aerial targets from orbit, according to an official announcement, AzerNEWS reports.

The Space Force’s press service confirmed the agreement, which falls under the Space Based Air Moving Target Indicator program. The project will be carried out in collaboration with the National Military Space Intelligence Agency, officials said.

According to the official statement, the new orbital satellite group will complement existing air surveillance capabilities. It will take over several functions traditionally performed by ground-based radar systems and long-range radio-location detection aircraft.

“The space-based system will track moving airborne targets, including aircraft and potentially missiles, providing persistent global coverage that ground systems cannot achieve,” the press release noted.

Under the terms of the contract, SpaceX must complete the deployment of the satellites into orbit by 2028. The exact number of satellites to be deployed as part of the project has not been disclosed.

Sources familiar with the program indicated that the same satellites could eventually be used to detect and track missile launches under the future Golden Dome missile defense system program. That initiative aims to provide layered defense against advanced aerial and ballistic threats.

The agreement marks one of the largest commercial procurements by the Space Force to date and underscores the growing reliance on private-sector innovation for national security space architecture. SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has become a key Pentagon contractor in recent years, launching classified payloads and supplying the Starlink satellite internet system to military users.