What Happened
Elon Musk's Company Expands Role In National Security Satellite Infrastructure
The U.S. Space Force has awarded SpaceX a $2.29 billion contract to build a constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites for the Space Data Network Backbone, a military data network. The contract, announced on May 26, 2026, is the largest known government satellite-manufacturing contract for SpaceX. The company will use its Starshield satellites, a militarized variant of Starlink, to deliver a fully operational prototype by the end of 2027. This development was first reported by MLQ.ai.