US Space Development Agency Pays $9.9M to Study SpaceX Plaser Laser Terminal for Missile Tracking

The US Space Development Agency awarded SpaceX a $9.92 million contract to study interoperability of its Plug and Play Laser, or Plaser, optical communications terminal with military missile-warning and tracking satellites. The risk-reduction effort includes representative hardware and integration support, with contract options potentially increasing the value to $12.67 million. SpaceX's Plaser terminals are used in the Space Data Network Backbone, while SDA satellites use a different optical communications standard and cannot currently connect directly. Work in California and Washington is expected to conclude by 7 October 2027; the award funds a study, not operational deployment.