The U.S. Space Force has awarded Viasat a contract worth up to $450 million to build the mission operations center for its Space Data Network Backbone. The satellite network is meant to carry data between President Trump’s Golden Dome missile-defense sensors and the weapons that would fire on threats. Space Systems Command announced the award on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, DefenseScoop reported.
The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract comes with an initial task order of $115 million to “design, field and scale” the center. Space Systems Command is doing the work “in partnership” with the Pentagon’s Golden Dome office, according to Breaking Defense. The press release did not say where the center will be built.
$450M contract ceiling · $115M first task order · $2.29B SpaceX backbone prototype deal · end of 2027 prototype deadline
What the Space Data Network operations center will do
Breaking Defense compared the center to a modern, software-run version of an old telephone exchange. It will orchestrate traffic across multiple satellite constellations in different orbits and the ground stations that support them. If one path is congested or jammed by an adversary, data can “hop” from one constellation to another. Viasat will be the “network and mission system integration partner” as the command adds more space-segment providers, the release said.
According to the release, the center will provide multi-vendor orchestration, high-speed and cyber-resilient connections for forces in the air, on land, at sea and in space, and real-time routing based on mission priority. “The MOC will bring together mission integration, network operations, and data transport management across a growing multi-vendor architecture,” Space Systems Command said.
Lt. Col. Alexa Eggert, materiel leader for the backbone program, called the center “a crucial step in maturing our Space Data Network into a fully operational, multi-vendor capability.” She added: “By bringing the systems together in one place, it positions us to deliver a more integrated mission capability across multiple constellations and systems.”
By the numbers: SpaceX, Viasat and the FY2027 request
The backbone itself is a low Earth orbit constellation that SpaceX is building under a $2.29 billion other-transaction agreement awarded in May, which requires a fully operational prototype by the end of 2027, GovConWire reported. Viasat’s $450 million ceiling is about 20% of the SpaceX award. The first $115 million task order is 25.6% of Viasat’s ceiling (TBR calculations).
The Space Force has also asked for nearly $1.5 billion for the backbone in a proposed fiscal 2027 reconciliation bill: $685 million to speed up the constellation and $800 million to bring on more vendors. Those amounts are requests, not appropriations. Congress has not approved them, and Democrats will control both chambers in January.
The Space Force also sought $1.6 billion in base-budget procurement for its Proliferated Low Earth Orbit satellite communications effort, GovConWire reported. Space Systems Command manages a $15.6 billion annual space acquisition budget. Measured against that, the first $115 million Viasat order is about 0.7% of one year’s acquisition spending (TBR calculation).
Golden Dome and the multi-vendor architecture
In August, the Space Force picked Amazon LEO for Government, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab and York Space Systems to demonstrate data transport between their systems, both ground-to-space and space-to-space, DefenseScoop reported. The backbone is planned to work alongside the Space Development Agency’s Transport Layer in a hybrid mesh, according to GovConWire. Its near-term focus is Golden Dome, Breaking Defense reported.
Viasat already holds a string of military satellite-communications awards. In May, Viasat and Intelsat General Communications, now part of SES, won a $437.7 million Space Force contract for Protected Tactical Satellite-Global space vehicles. The same month, its Inmarsat Government business won a potential $307.1 million Marine Corps contract for commercial satellite services. In December, Viasat was named an awardee on the Missile Defense Agency’s potential 10-year, $151 billion SHIELD contract vehicle, according to GovConWire.
The new award also follows a NASA Ka-band relay contract worth up to $460.9 million announced Wednesday, according to GovConWire. Separately, the Space Force’s top officer said the military had been closely watching a Russian satellite that maneuvered near a commercial synthetic aperture radar satellite in recent weeks, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. More on the service is in our coverage of South Korea joining a U.S. Space Force war game, the USSF-432 launch schedule and our Department of Defense coverage hub.
Sources
- DefenseScoop: Pentagon launching mission operations center for Space Data Network (Nov. 6, 2026)
- Breaking Defense: DoD taps Viasat to field operations ‘center’ for Golden Dome satellite data relay network (Nov. 6, 2026)
- GovConWire: Viasat wins $450M Space Force contract (Nov. 6, 2026)
- Air & Space Forces Magazine Daily Report (Nov. 6, 2026)
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