WASHINGTON – The US Space Force has selected Blue Origin, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance for the National Security Space Launch Services Phase 3 program. The three companies won contracts worth $5.6 billion over five years, the Pentagon announced June 13.
The three companies will compete for orders during the contract period running from fiscal year 2025 to 2029. Under the NSSL program, the Space Force orders individual launch missions up to two years in advance. At least 30 NSSL Lane 1 missions are expected to be contested over five years.
The Phase 3 contract is a major win for Blue Origin, marking the first time the space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos has been selected to launch sensitive national security satellites. SpaceX and ULA — a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture — have had a deadlock on national security launch contracts under the Phase 2 program that began in 2020.
Blue Origin competed for the Phase 2 contract and unsuccessfully protested the decision.
New Glenn aims for first launch this year
Blue Origin’s New Glenn reusable heavy-lift rocket — in development for nearly a decade — is undergoing testing and is slated to attempt its first orbital flight later this year.
The NSSL Phase 3 program was structured into two “tracks”. Lane 1 is for less demanding launches into low Earth orbit, while Lane 2 is reserved for heavy-lift rockets capable of delivering payloads to nine reference orbits, including some of the most demanding national security missions.
The selection of Blue Origin, SpaceX and ULA for the Lane 1 contracts confirms that no other launch provider met the criteria.
“As we predicted, the pool of winners is small this year because many companies are still maturing their launch capabilities,” Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, executive officer of the Assured Access to Space program, said in a statement. “Our strategy accounted for this by allowing platform opportunities each year, and we expect increased competition and diversity as new providers and systems complete development.”
The next opportunity for providers to ramp will be in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.
The Space Force earlier this year awarded Blue Origin nearly $18 million for “early integration studies” of the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 to evaluate the capabilities of the New Glenn rocket.
As part of the Phase 3 contract, Blue Origin will receive $5 million to conduct an initial assessment of its mission assurance capabilities, the Space Force said. Space X and ULA will each receive $1.5 million as they are the current Phase 2 providers.
The first opportunity for Phase 3, Lane 1 task ordering will be for seven US Space Development Agency launches and one for the National Reconnaissance Office. “Each launch provider on the base contract may bid on launch service task orders provided it has completed a successful orbital launch prior to the proposed proposal date,” the Space Force said in a June 13 statement.
Space Force wants diversity in launch providers
Space Force officials said the goal of NSSL Phase 3 is to increase competition, lower launch costs for national security payloads while maintaining safe access to space through redundant capabilities.
“The NSSL Phase 3 launch service procurement contracts provide the opportunity to incorporate the most current domestic commercial innovation into our launch program as it becomes available,” said Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration.
The Space Force plans to select Lane 2 providers this fall. “The government intends to award up to three contracts for the Launch Service Procurement Phase 3 NSSL, Lane 2,” the Space Systems Command said. Lane 2 contracts will include missions requiring full mission security with NSSL-certified launch vehicles. Payloads involved in Lane 2 require launching into more stressful orbits than Lane 1, requiring higher performance launch systems.