# Space Systems Command **Space Systems Command (SSC)** is the [[U.S. Space Force]] field command that buys the military's space systems: satellites, ground systems and launch. It was stood up in August 2021 from the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center and is headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base. For the vault it matters as the office that signs the checks that have made [[SpaceX]] the Pentagon's default space contractor. ## The launch buyer SSC runs the [[National Security Space Launch]] program. Phase 3, awarded in 2024–25, splits the work into: - **Lane 1:** task orders open to newer providers, including [[Rocket Lab]] once its Neutron rocket flies. - **Lane 2:** the most demanding missions, split among [[SpaceX]], [[United Launch Alliance]] and [[Blue Origin]]. Recent SSC orders recorded in the vault: | Date | Award | |---|---| | Early 2026 | Phase 3 Lane 2 mission assignments: SpaceX 5 missions ($714M), ULA 2 ($428M) | | May 29, 2026 | **SB-AMTI** (space-based airborne moving target indicator) initial constellation: **SpaceX, $4.16 billion**, its largest single award of 2026 | | July 30, 2026 | Lane 1 task orders to SpaceX: **$1.6 billion for 18 Falcon 9 launches** of missile-warning, tracking and communications satellites through 2027 ([[SpaceX NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 Awards]]) | | Aug 2026 | Three SB-AMTI awards totalling **$615 million** to other firms, $397 million of it to Rocket Lab, to broaden the supplier base | ## Why it matters here SSC shows the Pentagon's two-track answer to depending on one company. It keeps giving SpaceX the largest awards because SpaceX can launch, and it pays for second sources so the dependence does not become total ([[SpaceX Contracts]], [[Rocket Lab]]). The [[Space Development Agency]] runs a parallel satellite pipeline under the same logic, and [[Golden Dome]] missile-defense procurement will run through both. ## See also - [[U.S. Space Force]] · [[National Security Space Launch]] · [[Space Development Agency]] · [[Golden Dome]] - [[SpaceX]] · [[SpaceX Contracts]] · [[SpaceX NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 Awards]] · [[United Launch Alliance]] · [[Blue Origin]] · [[Rocket Lab]]