United Press International:

SpaceX has won a $150 million contract to launch the U.S. Department of Defense’s first batch of hypersonic missile defense satellites, the second contract — for roughly the same amount — that has been awarded for their development.

SpaceX and Florida-based defense firm L3Harris Technologies are competing and collaborating on the project, which is designed for the rapid development of a globe-circling network with dozens of satellites.

Lockheed Martin and Denver-based satellite firm York Space Systems also are building spacecraft for the network.

“It’s a response to the evolving hypersonic abilities from Russia and China and others potentially,” George Nacouzi, a senior engineer at the Rand Corporation, a non-profit think tank for the defense industry, told UPI…

Click here to read the full article.