11.01.2026

SpaceX will launch 36 Tranche 2 Tracking Layer satellites — 18 built by L3Harris and 18 built by Lockheed Martin — plus eight FOO Fighter birds built by Millennium Space Systems.

Millennium Space Systems' FOO Fighter prototype (Millennium Space Systems)

The Space Force today announced awards to SpaceX for five launches of a total of 44 missile warning/tracking and fire control satellites for the Space Development Agency (SDA), as well as for an undisclosed number of launches for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

The total value of the launch awards is $739 million, according to a press release issued by Space Systems Command (SSC).

SSC made the launch awards under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program, which acquires commercial launches for less challenging and/or critical missions most often being lofted to low- or medium-Earth orbits.

The first task order, called SDA-2, covers two launches with a total of 18 Tranche 2 Tracking Layer satellites built by L3Harris, and one launch for eight Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter or F2) birds built by Millennium Space Systems. Those will begin launching in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, according to the SSC announcement.

The second task order, called SDA-3 with launches to begin in the third quarter of FY27, includes two launches of a total of 18 satellites built by Lockheed Martin.

Finally, the SSC announcement said the SpaceX awards also include what it calls the “NTO-5” missions for NRO, to be launched between the first quarter of FY27 and the second quarter of FY28, but provided no other information about those satellites as they, like most satellites developed by the spy-sat agency, are classified.

NTO stands for “NRO Task Order,” an SSC spokesperson told Breaking Defense.

SDA in January 2024 awarded three contracts worth a total of more than $2.5 billion for Tranche 2 Tracking Layer satellites: L3Harris Technologies at $919 million, Lockheed Martin at $890 million, and Sierra Space at $740 million to each deliver and operate 18 space vehicles, including two kitted out for fire control. In April 2024, the agency tapped Millennium Space to develop the eight FOO Fighter birds under a contract worth up to $414 million.

Quelle: BREAKING DEFENSE