The Space Force is now seeking to buy up to $30 billion in rocket launches
The Space Force is now seeking to buy up to $30 billion in rocket launches
美国太空军计划斥资高达 300 亿美元用于火箭发射
It seems as though $5.6 billion wasn’t enough. That was the news from the US Space Force on Friday, when military officials announced they were tripling the maximum value of one of the service’s National Security Space Launch contracts to $17 billion. 看来 56 亿美元已经不够用了。美国太空军周五发布消息称，军方官员宣布将该部门“国家安全太空发射”（NSSL）合同之一的最高限额提高至 170 亿美元，即原先的三倍。
The expansion of the Space Force’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 contract comes as the Pentagon signals rising demand for military satellite launches. The NSSL program is set up to allow Space Systems Command, which oversees the Space Force’s launch program, to select from a pool of launch providers for individual missions to deliver the military’s satellites to orbit. 此次太空军扩大“国家安全太空发射”（NSSL）第三阶段合同，正值五角大楼发出信号，表明对军事卫星发射的需求正在增长。NSSL 项目旨在让负责太空军发射计划的太空系统司令部（Space Systems Command）能够从多家发射供应商中进行选择，以执行将军事卫星送入轨道的各项任务。
The NSSL program has two parts. Lane 1 covers the Space Force’s more risk-tolerant missions, such as medium-lift launches with experimental payloads or rideshare missions carrying satellites for the Pentagon’s surveillance or data relay constellations. Lane 2 includes higher-priority strategic missions, like the government’s largest and most expensive spy satellites, or radiation-hardened communications satellites designed to survive a nuclear war. NSSL 项目分为两个部分。第一通道（Lane 1）涵盖了太空军风险承受能力较高的任务，例如搭载实验性载荷的中型运载火箭发射，或为五角大楼监视及数据中继卫星群提供服务的拼车发射任务。第二通道（Lane 2）则包括优先级更高的战略任务，例如政府最大、最昂贵的间谍卫星，或是旨在核战争中仍能正常工作的抗辐射通信卫星。
Lane 1 is open to commercial launch providers without requiring extensive certification and oversight from the Space Force. This is the part the Pentagon has now authorized for $17 billion in launch procurement expenses. Missions in Lane 2 can only launch on rockets that go through the military’s lengthy certification reviews. Only SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket are certified for Lane 2 missions. 第一通道向商业发射供应商开放，无需经过太空军繁琐的认证和监管。这正是五角大楼目前批准 170 亿美元发射采购费用的部分。第二通道的任务只能使用通过军方漫长认证审查的火箭进行发射。目前只有 SpaceX 的猎鹰 9 号（Falcon 9）和猎鹰重型（Falcon Heavy），以及联合发射联盟（ULA）的火神（Vulcan）火箭获得了第二通道的任务认证。
More money for more launches
更多资金，更多发射
There are more launch companies qualified for Lane 1 contracts. Space Systems Command originally selected SpaceX, ULA, and Blue Origin for Lane 1 in the Phase 3 round of the NSSL program in 2024. Rocket Lab, Stoke Space, and most recently, Relativity Space and Impulse Space were added to the roster of companies competing to launch Lane 1 missions. 有更多的发射公司具备第一通道合同的资格。太空系统司令部最初在 2024 年 NSSL 项目第三阶段中选择了 SpaceX、ULA 和蓝色起源（Blue Origin）进入第一通道。随后，火箭实验室（Rocket Lab）、Stoke Space，以及最近加入的相对论空间（Relativity Space）和脉冲空间（Impulse Space）也被纳入了竞争第一通道发射任务的公司名单。
The Space Force issues a request for bids on a number of Lane 1 missions each year, and then doles out individual fixed-price “task orders” to the winners. SpaceX has won the lion’s share of Lane 1 task orders to date, and Blue Origin won its first earlier this year. 太空军每年针对多项第一通道任务发布招标请求，然后向中标者发放单独的固定价格“任务订单”。迄今为止，SpaceX 赢得了第一通道绝大部分的任务订单，而蓝色起源也在今年早些时候赢得了其首个订单。
The Space Force originally estimated the Lane 1 launch providers would compete for at least 30 task orders over a five-year period. Officials put a ceiling of $5.6 billion on the Lane 1 contract to cover these 30 missions. The Space Force capped the Lane 2 contract at $13.7 billion last year, a number officials thought was sufficient to cover an estimated 54 launches projected for procurement through 2029. 太空军最初估计，第一通道的发射供应商将在五年内竞争至少 30 个任务订单。官员们为第一通道合同设定了 56 亿美元的上限，以覆盖这 30 次任务。去年，太空军将第二通道合同的上限设定为 137 亿美元，官员们认为这一金额足以覆盖预计到 2029 年采购的 54 次发射任务。
But things have changed rapidly. In April, Space Systems Command said it had identified 25 additional Lane 2 missions on top of the 54 included in the original contract just one year before. Now, the Space Force is tripling the maximum value for the Lane 1 contract. The service has not said how many more missions it expects to order in Lane 1 beyond the initial estimate of 30. 但情况变化迅速。今年 4 月，太空系统司令部表示，在最初合同包含的 54 次任务基础上，又确定了 25 次额外的第二通道任务，而这距离合同签署仅过去一年。现在，太空军将第一通道合同的最高限额提高了两倍。军方尚未说明除了最初估计的 30 次任务外，预计还会在第一通道订购多少次任务。
With Friday’s announcement, the combined maximum value of Lane 1 and Lane 2 has reached more than $30 billion, and the number is likely to climb again. Space Force officials have not publicly identified exactly what missions they plan to add to each of the NSSL contracts. But there are a few obvious programs driving the military’s rising launch demand. 随着周五的公告，第一通道和第二通道的合并最高价值已超过 300 亿美元，且这一数字很可能会继续攀升。太空军官员尚未公开说明他们计划在每项 NSSL 合同中增加哪些具体任务。但有几个明显的项目正在推动军方对发射需求的增长。
One is the Space Force’s recent award of multibillion-dollar contracts to SpaceX for the deployment of numerous satellites for the Pentagon’s Space Data Network and Airborne Moving Target Indicator programs. The SDN and AMTI satellite constellations will provide global connectivity and targeting information for US forces. 其中之一是太空军最近授予 SpaceX 的数十亿美元合同，用于为五角大楼的“太空数据网络”（SDN）和“机载移动目标指示器”（AMTI）项目部署大量卫星。SDN 和 AMTI 卫星群将为美军提供全球连接和目标定位信息。
Another is Golden Dome, the Trump administration’s proposed missile defense shield, which is expected to include an untold number of space-based missile warning sensors and space-based interceptors. 另一个是特朗普政府提议的“金穹”（Golden Dome）导弹防御盾，预计将包括数量不详的太空导弹预警传感器和太空拦截器。
The Trump administration requested $71.1 billion for the Space Force in fiscal year 2027, up from approximately $40 billion allocated for fiscal year 2026. The House Appropriations Committee’s draft 2027 budget for the Pentagon includes $55.5 billion for the Space Force, somewhat less than the White House’s request. The Senate has not released its Pentagon budget bill. 特朗普政府为 2027 财年的太空军申请了 711 亿美元的预算，高于 2026 财年分配的约 400 亿美元。众议院拨款委员会为五角大楼起草的 2027 年预算中，包含 555 亿美元的太空军经费，略低于白宫的申请额。参议院尚未发布其五角大楼预算案。