The Air Force let a $900 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for space launch services under the Rocket Systems Launch Program, announced the Pentagon. Under this contract, Lockheed Martin, Orbital Sciences, and Space Exploration Technologies will provide launch vehicles through November 2017, states the contract description, which is included in the Defense Department’s Dec. 3 list of major contracts. RSLP utilizes commercial launch systems as well as deactivated Minuteman and Peacekeeper ICBM motors to place small spacecraft into a variety of orbits for DOD and other government agencies.
The Space Force wants to launch hundreds of satellites in the coming years—and use contractor spacecraft to sweep them out of orbit later. The service’s Space Development Agency and the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit announced a trio of preliminary contracts for their Deorbit-as-a-Service project on Aug. 14, to Firefly Aerospace,…