The Mechanism
Congress does not need to pass a new law for the Space Force to cut another launch check. The National Security Space Launch program — now in its Phase 3 iteration — is a standing indefinite-delivery contract pool that lets Space Systems Command assign task orders year after year without returning to the appropriations table for fresh authority. Phase 2 ran from FY2022 through FY2027, splitting 48 missions between SpaceX and ULA. Phase 3 has already expanded the pool: a Lane 2 award covering roughly 54 missions through 2032 went to SpaceX, ULA, and Blue Origin at a combined ceiling of $13.7 billion. Lane 1, designed for newer providers on more risk-tolerant missions, carries its own $5.6 billion pool — and in March 2025, the Space Force quietly on-ramped two additional providers onto it. One was Rocket Lab.
That is the machinery. Washington does not debate it annually the way it debates social spending. It just releases mission assignments. In April 2025, Space Systems Command released the FY25 Lane 2 assignments. In FY26, another batch is already scheduled. The revenue is not a windfall — it is a recurring drip from a program that has been operational since the Air Force stood it up in 2019.