Pentagon mulls placing fleet of military satellites around the Moon

“We have a role to play, but we’re not the lead,” said Gen. Chance Saltzman, who was the top general in the Space Force until his retirement in August. “I just don’t want to get caught flat-footed when we start to have to protect US interests out there, so we’re along for the ride.”

Now, the Pentagon has taken a preliminary step toward a “Cislunar Space System,” a constellation of military satellites the military says it is considering deploying around the Moon. The new RFI was released by the Department of the Air Force and dated November 2. It asks companies to inform the military on their ability to provide “rapid” and “low-risk” solutions to support the government’s “technical and programmatic objectives.”

The document provided few details about what the Pentagon wants to do around the Moon with the Cislunar Space System, other than it will consist of up to five spacecraft, each with a government-provided payload, to meet military “mission needs” in late 2029.

The RFI hints at a vision for a much larger fleet of satellites in cislunar space. The first five satellites “may serve as seed vehicles that will inform the acquisition strategy for a potential future proliferated cislunar constellation,” the RFI said.

“The government intends to award up to five firm fixed price preliminary design study contracts upon government consideration of the market information collected with this RFI and all other sources of information relevant to the effort,” military officials wrote on the government procurement website.

Responses are due by November 24. It is unclear when the Pentagon might move forward with firm contracts, and the language in the RFI does not commit the military to doing so. The standard commercial satellite development cycle can run two or three years, so it’s a safe bet that military officials would want deals signed sometime in 2027 to meet their 2029 schedule goal.