# National Security Space Launch The [[U.S. Space Force]] procurement program that buys launch services for national-security satellites, run through [[Space Systems Command]]. Phase 3 splits awards into **Lane 1** (newer or less-proven providers, task-order based) and **Lane 2** (the most demanding orbits and heaviest assurance requirements), a structure intended to widen the provider base without lowering assurance on the hardest missions. NSSL is the contract vehicle through which most of the government's launch dependence on [[SpaceX]] is expressed, which makes it the procurement mechanism behind the vault's commercial-space leverage thread. > [!note] Stub — fill out > Phase 1/2/3 history, the ULA–SpaceX duopoly and its erosion, per-award dollar figures, and the assured-access statutory requirement.