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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched June 25 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 10-16 mission.
The U.S. Space Force has awarded SpaceX the latest task order under its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 contract, the service announced June 27.
SpaceX will support USSF-178, a multi-manifest mission expected to launch in the first half of fiscal 2027 under the $81 million task order. The mission includes a new “launch opportunity” called BLAZE-2, through which the Space Force plans to flexibly manifest a range of small satellites on rockets with additional capacity, the news release said.
BLAZE-2 reflects the Space Force’s efforts to develop more responsive launch options, including “the rapid integration of spacecraft within three months of launch,” the service said. It would support operational, research-and-development and prototype small satellite deployments.
The Space Force and SpaceX recently partnered to deploy two separate GPS III satellites with only months to spare from call-up to liftoff under what the service called “Rapid Response Trailblazer” launches.
USSF-178 will also deploy the Space Force’s second Weather System Follow-On – Microwave satellite, to provide space-based environmental monitoring to study elements like sea ice characterization, soil moisture, and snow depth. The first spacecraft was launched in April 2024. Ball Aerospace–now part of BAE Systems–built the two weather-monitoring satellites.
This is the third task order issued under the NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 contract. SpaceX won the first two task orders in October 2024, with one supporting the April 21 launch of NROL-145 for the National Reconnaissance Office, and the other including seven launches for the future deployment of spacecraft for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 2 Transport Layer constellation. Additional task orders are expected to be announced this year, the release said.
The service divided Phase 3 of its launch services program into two lanes, with Lane 1 meant to support new launch provider entrants by servicing less demanding missions and lower-priority payloads. Five launch providers are currently eligible to bid for task orders under NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1: SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab and Stoke Space.
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