- SpaceX has secured a $2.29 billion Space Force agreement to fast-track the SDN Backbone program
- The satellite network is designed to provide secure, high-speed military communications worldwide
- SpaceX must deliver a fully operational prototype capability by the end of 2027
The U.S. Space Force has awarded SpaceX a $2.29 billion other transaction authority agreement to accelerate the delivery of the Space Data Network, or SDN, Backbone.
USSF Col. Ryan Frazier, an acting portfolio acquisition executive overseeing the SDN architecture, will speak at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Air and Space Summit on July 30. Register now.
What Is the Scope of the SDN Backbone OTA?
The Space Systems Command said Tuesday the firm-fixed-price delivery order supports development of a resilient, high-speed data transport layer intended to provide secure global military connectivity. Under the OTA agreement, SpaceX is expected to deliver a fully operational prototype capability by the end of 2027.
The award builds on SpaceX’s expanding portfolio of Space Force contracts supporting proliferated low Earth orbit communications, including the company’s recent Link-182 award to develop resilient space-to-space communications technologies, as well as Space Development Agency satellite deployments tied to missile tracking and national security missions under the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 program.
What Is the SDN Backbone?
The SDN Backbone is a proliferated LEO satellite constellation designed to provide low-latency, high-capacity data transport for the Joint Force through an optically interconnected mesh network for worldwide tactical and broadband communications.
The system will operate alongside the SDA’s Transport Layer as part of a broader hybrid mesh architecture supporting current and future War Department missions.
Col. Ryan Frazier, acting Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for space-based sensing and targeting, said the program leverages commercial technologies to establish a foundational communications layer that keeps Space Force sensors and shooters continuously connected through secure global networks.
