3D render of planet Earth viewed from space, with night lights in Europe and sun rising over Asia. Blue hue treatment. Elements from NASA (https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/57000/57752/land_shallow_topo_2048.jpg)

The U.S. Space Force (USSF) plans to request nearly $1.5 billion for the Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone in a future fiscal 2027 reconciliation bill. Last week, Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC) awarded SpaceX a nearly $2.3 billion Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contract for the SDN Backbone, a future proliferated low-Earth orbit (pLEO) constellation of satellites for high capacity, rapid communications (Defense Daily, May 27). The award falls under the responsibility of the Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for…