Space Force adds two startups to its list of space companies that can bid on its contracts
The Space Force on July 8, 2026 added the rocket startup Relativity and the rocket engine company Impulse Space to its list of approved space contractors, awarding both a $5 million task order to “conduct an initial capabilities assessment.”
The U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) acting Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Space Access awarded two additional Firm Fixed-Price (FFP), Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 contracts to Impulse Space and Relativity Federal Inc., a subsidiary of Relativity Space. The two providers join Blue Origin, SpaceX and ULA who were on-ramped in FY24, and Rocket Lab and Stoke Space who were on-ramped in FY25.
…Phase 3 Lane 1 contract provides commercial-like launch services for Space Systems Command’s (SSC) more risk-tolerant missions. The Lane 1 contract focuses on rapid contract award, streamlined integration phases and reduced timelines from award to launch.
What this means is that these two companies will be able to bid on certain projects that are tailored for smaller newer companies in which the Space Force can accept a higher risk of failure.
Back in 2014 the Air Force (which then ran the military’s space operations) was so hidebound it would only entertain bids from one launch company, ULA. SpaceX had to sue to end that monopoly. Even so, for years the Air Force was reluctant to expand this list beyond these companies, which is one reason the Space Force was created. The Air Force wasn’t really interested in space; the War Department needed an agency focused on these assets exclusively.
Since then the Space Force has aggressively expanded this list of approved companies, almost faster than the companies become operational. This has resulted in more launches at lower cost, benefiting both the military and private sector.
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I read somewhere that SpaceX has quit taking new reservations for Falcon 9 launches! The source did not know how long a backlog there was, but guessed that it must be until about the end of 2027. I hope it’s longer than that, because:
– I’m not sure Starship will be ready to pick up the load by then, and…
– I’m not sure anyone else will either!
Of course, this may well not include USSF payloads.
A number of sources, including Ars Technica, are reporting that SpaceX has apparently stopped accepting new reservations for Transporter and Bandwagon ride-share missions as it is now booked up solid through at least early 2029. Whether this constitutes a pause in rideshare bookings or a hard stop is not known – outside of SpaceX.
There are a number of possible motivations for such a move but only one really big one seems likely. My own notion is that – given the problematical nature of both New Glenn’s and Vulcan’s returns-to-flight, and the fact that those vehicles have obligations beyond just Amazon Leo missions, when and if they return to service – Amazon Leo is very quietly dickering with SpaceX for a really big additional F9 launch buy in order to be sure it has its entire constellation deployed by the FCC-mandated deadline of July 30, 2029. This could well require 100 or more additional launches over and above the three already accomplished and the 10 that are still in the queue. If, as I suspect will prove true, SpaceX moves pretty much the entirety of on-going Starlink deployments to Starship by the end of 2027, or even mid-year 2027, then there would appear to be sufficient F9 capacity thus freed up to handle this notional Amazon Leo mission load, especially in the back half of the three years remaining before the full-deployment deadline Amazon Leo faces.
In such a scenario, it may well be the case that Transporter and Bandwagon mission bookings are only paused to allow for maximum flexibility where Amazon Leo is concerned out through mid-2029. Once Amazon Leo knows how much, if at all, it can count on getting launch missions from Blue Origin and ULA as adjuncts to SpaceX’s trusty and prolific F9s, SpaceX could re-open the turnstiles for Transporter and Bandwagon bookings by, say, late 2027 once the whole Amazon Leo launch situation has had a chance to sufficiently clarify.
A big reason to believe this rumored rideshare reservation pause is real is that one source Ars Technica cites is Rocket Lab and its customers. When SpaceX started its rideshare flights there was much comment to the effect that this was a move on SpaceX’s part to suffocate small launch providers in their cribs to eliminate future competition. The most successful small launch provider, Rocket Lab, has, instead, prospered since the advent of SpaceX rideshare offerings. Rocket Lab has sought, and found, a lot of business in the launching of small constellations, mostly of Earth-observation and Internet-of-things sats of various kinds, for start-up companies worldwide. It has been advising such customers for some time to launch their prototype hardware cheaply on a SpaceX rideshare or two in order to get experience and chase bugs, then come to Rocket Lab for deployment of proven hardware to ideal orbits and altitudes. Thus, Rocket Lab would be in a position to know earlier than almost anyone else about any change of rideshare booking policy by SpaceX.
What they can’t know is whether this change is intended by SpaceX as a permanent phase-out of rideshare offerings or merely a pause in accepting new ones. And if, as I suspect, the reason for the pause is contingent on a potential huge launch order from Amazon Leo – the negotiation of which is hush-hush for the nonce – then SpaceX can’t really clarify this issue via any kind of public statement or it would confirm my hypothesis in advance of any mutually agreed-upon deal and public announcement of such.
Satellite start-ups are, understandably, dismayed at the potential loss of SpaceX rideshare services. And other launch service providers are only marginally less so. Thus has SpaceX rideshare become such a key part of the space launch ecosystem since its inception. Damned as anti-competitive when SpaceX rideshare was first rolled out, the wailing and gnashing of teeth among SpaceX detractors is now based on its potential rescission. So it goes.
“[Rocket Lab] has been advising such customers for some time to launch their prototype hardware cheaply on a SpaceX rideshare or two in order to get experience and chase bugs, then come to Rocket Lab for deployment of proven hardware to ideal orbits and altitudes. Thus, Rocket Lab would be in a position to know earlier than almost anyone else about any change of rideshare booking policy by SpaceX.”
It is a good strategy. SpaceX did the same thing early in Starlink’s life, flying less-than-perfect initial satellites just to gain experience and to find early bugs, because changes were definitely going to be made later. Early improvements can be incorporated sooner rather than later.
This strategy is cheap to do with smallsats but expensive with the large satellites, and since satellites had grown to be large, until recently, this strategy advocated by Rocket Lab was not obvious to everyone.
The rest of Dick Eagleson’s comment makes sense, too. We expect the Falcons to become obsolete and thus eventually phased out once Starship becomes operational. RCurrently it is hard to predict exactly what will happen with an operational Starship, but SpaceX probably has its own idea and its own plan A.
The dismay of the smallsat operators is understandable, but with luck we will have several more smallsat launch companies available by the end of next year, so that these smallsats will still have launch opportunities (but I probably have been saying this same thing for the past five years).
I like Dick’s thought that SpaceX is damned if they do it and damned if they stop doing it. It seems to fit the messages that keep coming out. It seems as though no one likes successful people, but they sure are willing to buy and use their products.
Even a pause in SpaceX rideshare service gives a number a new about-to-debut launch providers a shot at getting some of that business. An actual end to SpaceX rideshare service would, of course, provide a long-term opportunity for such firms. The coming year or two should be interesting in all sorts of ways and now, it seems, rideshare will also be a factor in the ferment.
Dick Eagleson
“Even a pause in SpaceX rideshare service gives a number a new about-to-debut launch providers a shot at getting some of that business.”
Up to now, there have been far, far more customers than the smallsat launch companies have been able to accommodate. The SpaceX rideshare program has been able to alleviate some of that pent up demand, and if there is a year’s backlog, then we can conclude that there are not enough rideshare flights to meet the current demand. I do not see a reduction in demand for smallsat launches.
My concern is that a complete loss of rideshare could result in today’s smallsat startups being unable to launch at all, and I see this as a problem for the space economy. It seems that these startups see a similar problem developing and are also concerned. Small companies often grow into large companies, increasing the business and the economy. My hope and expectation is that Newton will take over for Falcon 9 on the rideshare business, which keeps up the availability of access to low Earth orbit (LEO) for the smallsats and their companies. It also allows SpaceX to readjust its concentration on its own priorities rather than the priorities of its customers. (Did I just say that? How anti-business that sounds.)
I also hope that the future brings other smallsat launch companies the ability to develop their own medium and large launch vehicles so that they, too, can continue the access to LEO for smallsats.