Comms satellites bid wins Boeing $2 billion Space Force contract
NewsJune 24, 2026
ARLINGTON, Va. Boeing won a contract worth as much as $2 billion to build two next-generation military communications satellites for the U.S. Space Force, succeeding in its bid to win the work to extend the life of one of the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD's) most heavily used satellite networks.
According to the terms of the contract, Boeing will design, develop, produce, and test two satellites for the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), the military’s primary narrowband communications constellation. MUOS connects personnel, ships, aircraft, and Special Operations forces through a network of satellites in geostationary orbit, enabling users to leverage relatively small terminals to communicate far beyond the reach of terrestrial networks. User radios operating in the ultra-high-frequency (UHF) portion of the spectrum connect to one of five MUOS satellites positioned in geostationary orbit, with signals routed through ground stations and relayed to other users around the world.
Boeing and Lockheed Martin -- Lockheed had built all five satellites currently operating in the MUOS constellation -- had been competing for the contrac\at under the Space Force’s MUOS Service Life Extension program, which was launched after the service assumed responsibility for the network from the Navy in 2023. The Boeing announcement notes that the U.S. Navy launched the MUOS program in the early 2000s to replace the aging UHF Follow-On constellation, a Cold War-era network that had become strained by operational requirements.
The satellites are set to be delivered by 2035, according to the Boeing announcement.
