Key facts
- The RFI says the government intends to award up to five firm fixed price preliminary design study contracts after reviewing market information.
- The RFI describes up to five spacecraft, each carrying a government-provided payload, to meet military mission needs in late 2029.
- The RFI says the first five satellites may serve as seed vehicles informing acquisition strategy for a potential future proliferated cislunar constellation.
- Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, the Space Force's acquisitions chief for advanced programs, said at an October Industry Days event that the Moon is a warfighting domain.
- Gen. Chance Saltzman, the top general in the Space Force until his retirement in August, said the military has a role at the Moon but is not the lead.
- The $75 million Oracle-M mission, led by the Air Force Research Laboratory, is scheduled to launch in mid-2027 toward the Moon.
The Department of the Air Force published a Request for Information on a federal procurement website, dated November 2, 2026, describing a "Cislunar Space System" of military satellites the Pentagon says it is considering deploying around the Moon. The document asks companies to inform the military of their ability to provide "rapid" and "low-risk" solutions supporting government "technical and programmatic objectives."
The RFI gives few details beyond a plan for up to five spacecraft, each with a government-provided payload, to meet military "mission needs" in late 2029. It says the first five satellites "may serve as seed vehicles that will inform the acquisition strategy for a potential future proliferated cislunar constellation." Military officials wrote that the government intends to award up to five firm fixed price preliminary design study contracts after considering the market information collected. Responses are due by November 24, and the RFI does not commit the military to awarding firm contracts.
The announcement follows statements from Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, the Space Force's acquisitions chief for advanced programs, that the military was getting serious about extending its reach to the Moon. At Space Systems Command's Industry Days event in October, Purdy said, according to a report in Air & Space Forces Magazine: "I've got the Secretary of War and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs full on stating in public: 'This is a warfighting domain.'" He added: "And so, I would ask you all, please jump on my cislunar bandwagon because I need some more friends here, along with our deep, passionate crew that have been working on this for years."