GoKawiilElon Musk's conglomerate company for space exploration, artificial intelligence and telecommunications can now add military defense to its mission statement. SpaceX was awarded a $4.16 billion contract from the Space Force to build satellites that track foreign aircraft and missiles as part of President Trump's proposed Golden Dome project.
The Space Force uses a more official name for the Golden Dome, called the "Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator," but it's the same missile defense system that's estimated to cost $1.2 trillion over a span of 20 years. From Space Force's press release, the project will use "advanced space-based sensors, secure and rapid communication links, and resilient ground processing" to establish "a persistent, global capability to sense and track airborne targets from space." The Space Force said it would issue multiple contracts as part of this long-term project, but this initial contract to SpaceX would entail creating "a constellation of satellites by 2028."
Previously, the Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX would receive a $2 billion contract to help with the Golden Dome project late last year. Outside of the Golden Dome's scope of work, the Space Force also selected SpaceX for a $2.29 billion contract earlier this week. While the contracts are similar, the earlier one will be for developing a "resilient, high-speed communications network" that's based in space. However, that's not the first time the Space Force has tapped SpaceX for communications, since the agency granted a $70 million contract to use the company's Starshield program for military communications.