US Air Force Awards $739M Worth Contracts For Satellite Launch Missions

The US Air Force has awarded multiple contracts worth total $739 million for launch missions under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, announced Tuesday evening by the Department of defense.

The first contract worth over $441 million is awarded to United Launch Services (ULS) to deliver the SILENTBARKER, SBIRS GEO-5, and SBIRS GEO-6 missions to their intended orbits. 

This “$441,761,778 firm-fixed-price launch service contract” will include launch vehicle production, mission integration, mission launch operations/spaceflight worthiness, and mission unique activities for SILENTBARKER and SBIRS GEO-5, with an option for an additional SBIRS GEO-6 launch service, the release says.

The locations of performance are Hawthorne, California; Cape Canaveral Air Force Space Station, Florida; and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. NROL-85 and NROL-87 are expected to be completed by December 2021 and AFSPC-44 is expected to be completed by February 2021. 

The second contract announced in the release is worth $297 million awarded to Space Exploration Technologies Corp for launch services to deliver the NROL-87, NROL-85, and AFSPC-44 missions to their intended orbits. 

This launch service contract will include launch vehicle production, mission integration, mission launch operations/spaceflight worthiness and mission unique activities for each mission, the DOD said in a statement.

The locations of performance are Hawthorne, California; Cape Canaveral Air Force Space Station, Florida; and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. NROL-85 and NROL-87 are expected to be completed by December 2021 and AFSPC-44 is expected to be completed by February 2021, it added.

NROL-85, NROL-87 and Silent Barker are classified missions for the National Reconnaissance Office. The Space-Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit SBIRS GEO-5, SBIRS GEO-6 and AFSPC-44 are Air Force satellites.