SSC Chief To Satellite Vendors: Prepare For Production Growth

COLORADO SPRINGS—The U.S. Space Force’s senior acquisition official is telling industry to prepare for significant satellite production contracts should the fiscal 2027 budget request—with more than $19 billion earmarked for space procurement—be approved.

As the Pentagon is chasing multiyear production contracts to mass-produce munitions, the service’s Space Systems Command (SSC) is planning to significantly increase the number of satellites it procures, and needs industry to be ready for those contracts, SSC Commander Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant told reporters April 14 at the Space Foundation’s annual Space Symposium here.

“If a company is nominally making 10 [satellites], we want you to be prepared to make 40,” he said.

The Trump administration’s 2027 budget request, released April 3, would significantly increase the Space Force’s procurement budget from $4.2 billion enacted in 2026 to more than $19 billion in 2027, roughly split between baseline funding and reconciliation funds. Garrant emphasized that the budget must be passed to harness these planned procurement contracts, but said the service plans to utilize existing contracts to order additional satellites.

Spacecraft manufacturers are pouring significant money into building new facilities with highly efficient and scalable production lines as the U.S. military invests in space capabilities. But industry leaders want contracting commitments to gain a return on their investments.

Garrant acknowledged the chicken-and-egg dynamic between the government and company investments.

“Industry’s like, OK, we’ll capitalize and facilitize, but show me the money. They want the contract,” he said. “So, we’ve got to get these contracts awarded very quickly. The companies are prepared to make the investments, and then we are off to the races on production.”