United Launch Alliance and SpaceX recently won contracts worth $739 million to send six missions into orbit for the U.S. military, and the Air Force has announced a new title for its flagship launcher program, dropping “expendable” from the name in a new era of reusable rockets.
The contracts announced in February by the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center were split between ULA and SpaceX, rivals in the U.S. launch industry. ULA won deals for up to three launches worth $441.76 million, and the Air Force awarded SpaceX contracts worth $297 million, also for three missions.
Air Force and ULA officials confirmed to Spaceflight Now this week the configurations of the rockets assigned to the six military space missions.
The Air Force’s fifth Space Based Infrared System, or SBIRS, satellite will launch around March 2021 on an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, and the Air Force awarded an option for ULA’s Atlas 5 to launch the sixth SBIRS spacecraft in 2022. The SBIRS satellites host infrared sensors to detect plumes from missile launches, nuclear detonations, large explosions, wildfires and volcanic eruptions around the world, and their main purpose is providing early warning of an enemy attack on the U.S. homeland or allied nations.
