US Space Force Awards SpaceX $2.29 Billion Contract to Build Space Data Highway

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is displayed at a SpaceX facility in Hawthorne, Calif., on April 2, 2026. Mario Tama/Getty ImagesThe U.S. Space Force has agreed to a $2.29 billion contract with SpaceX to build a high-speed satellite ‌communications network to connect military sensors and weapons platforms across the globe, the service said on May 26.The fixed-price nontraditional contracting agreement covers ​the Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone, a resilient network architecture ​that provides high-capacity, low-latency data transport for the military.