The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX an over $4 billion contract for a program designed to track and target airborne threats globally from space.
The $4.16 billion agreement is meant to boost the delivery timeline of a “space-based sensing layer” as part of the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator, or SB-AMTI, project, according to a Friday Space Systems Command release.
“By focusing these capabilities to the space domain, we are providing the Joint Force with sustained battlespace awareness of contested airspace,” Col. Ryan Frazier, acting Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for Space Based Sensing & Targeting, said in the release.
By 2028, the award is projected to field a constellation of satellites to assist the Joint Force in eliminating operational blind spots.
The release states that traditional military airborne platforms to trace moving targets are confronting challenges as adversaries develop anti-access/area-denial systems, or A2/AD, propelling the need for more resilient tracking structures. The Space Force anticipates operating second- and third-generation SB-AMTI systems by 2035.
The SB-AMTI program represents a “deeper collaboration” within the government space industrial base as it utilizes space-based sensors, secure and quick communication connections and ground processing, the announcement reads.
“We will not leverage any one single provider; instead, we are partnering with a highly diversified pool of traditional and non-traditional vendors, each bringing various capabilities to support the SB-AMTI architecture, ensuring the Joint Force has access to a strong, competitive industrial base well into the future,” Frazier said.
The Portfolio Acquisition Executive for SBST granted the Other Transaction Authority agreement by using a hybrid acquisition model to combine the OTA with an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity acquisition approach, the release says.
SpaceX is not the only company in the SB-AMTI vendor pool. Others selected were announced by Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink in April 2026 during the Space Symposium, but their identities and pricing were withheld for national security reasons.
The release says that this agreement established “initial SB-AMTI capability,” but the Space Force expects to issue numerous awards in the next year to expand their diverse vendor pool.
Within the Department of the Air Force fiscal year 2027 budget request of $338.8 billion, the Space Force seeks $7.06 billion in funding for the SB-AMTI program to expand its high-band radar system’s coverage regionally, and potentially globally, for detecting and tracking airborne threats, according to budget documents.
Cristina Stassis is a reporter covering stories surrounding the defense industry, national security, military/veteran affairs and more. She previously worked as an editorial fellow for Defense News in 2024 where she assisted the newsroom in breaking news across Sightline Media Group.
