SpaceX wins $4.16 billion US Space Force contract for threat-detection satellites

May 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Space Force said on Friday it has awarded Elon Musk's IPO-bound SpaceX a $4.16 billion deal for a satellite program designed to track and target airborne threats.

The Space-Based Advanced Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) is designed as an interconnected system-of-systems, combining space-based sensors, secure communications links and ground processing to drive closer cooperation across the government space industrial base.

The Trump administration's flagship Golden Dome missile defense system ⁠has many layers, one ⁠of them being a sensing and tracking layer. The satellites would be expected to play a role in tracking missiles.

The Golden Dome initiative aims to expand ground-based interceptors, sensors and command systems while adding space-based satellites to detect, track and potentially counter airborne ⁠threats, including still-debated weaponry in ⁠orbit.

The Space Force said there are several companies in this SB-AMTI vendor pool, including SpaceX, and it will issue multiple awards in the coming year.

"This initial award is projected to field a constellation of satellites by 2028, providing the Joint Force with an early capability to eliminate operational blind spots," it said ⁠in a statement.

Earlier this week, the Space Force awarded SpaceX, which is targeting a valuation of more than $1.75 trillion in ⁠its initial public offering, a $2.29 billion contract to build ⁠a secure, high-speed satellite communications network to connect military sensors and weapons platforms across the globe.

The ⁠price tag for the Golden Dome missile defense shield has grown to $185 billion, up $10 billion, to accelerate key space-based capabilities, the program's director had said in March.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona and Shilpi Majumdar)