SpaceX lands $6.45B in Space Force work as Golden Dome linchpin

The U.S. Space Force has awarded SpaceX two major contracts in the same week totaling approximately $6.45 billion, dramatically expanding the company’s role in U.S. defense space infrastructure. One award, valued at $4.16 billion, tasks SpaceX with building satellites for the Space-Based Advanced Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) program, part of the Golden Dome missile and air defense initiative. These satellites will track aircraft and missiles from orbit and form an integrated system that combines space-based sensors, secure communications links, and advanced ground processing to deliver targeting data for military operations. A separate $2.29 billion contract, announced just days earlier, directs SpaceX to develop the Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone, a secure, high-speed satellite communications layer built on Starshield technology to connect sensors, decision-makers, and weapons systems worldwide.

Combined, the two deals make SpaceX the dominant commercial contractor within the Golden Dome program, with its $6.45 billion share exceeding the combined prototype awards to all other participating companies. The SB-AMTI constellation is expected to deliver an initial operational capability by around 2028, while the SDN Backbone must reach fully operational prototype status by the end of 2027, underscoring aggressive deployment timelines. These awards add significantly to the more than $22 billion in U.S. government contracts SpaceX already held by 2024 and reinforce disclosures in its IPO filing that roughly one-fifth of its 2025 revenue came from government sources. As SpaceX prepares for what is expected to be the largest IPO in history, the concentration of critical defense networking and sensing infrastructure on its Starlink and Starshield platforms signals both strong confidence from the U.S. military and a structural shift in national security toward commercially built, space-based infrastructure at unprecedented scale.