Boeing Wins $22.6 Million Boost to Strategic Satellite Contract

The Boeing Co. received a cost-plus-fixed-fee modification for the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications program, lifting the total contract to $2.87 billion, the Air Force said.

First Published: August 6, 2026, 2:13 PM ET

EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA — The Boeing Co., one of the world’s largest aerospace and defense manufacturers, won a $22.6 million modification to build the military’s next generation of secure satellite communications, as announced on war.gov.

The cost-plus-fixed-fee award (P00023) raises the total value of the contract to $2.87 billion from $2.85 billion, according to war.gov. The work supports the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications program, which develops hardened space systems designed to keep U.S. command links running through a nuclear conflict. Fiscal 2026 research, development, test and evaluation funds of $22.6 million were obligated at the time of the award.

Boeing designs, manufactures and sells commercial airplanes, defense systems, security products and space vehicles across multiple business segments, according to kalkine.com. The company operates as a leading global aerospace, defense, security and space company and counts satellites among its resilient systems powering global missions, according to boeing.com.

Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications, known as ESS, replaces the aging Advanced Extremely High Frequency network that carries protected messages for the president and nuclear forces. The program matters because it underwrites the survivability of national command and control. The Space Systems Command Satellite Communications and Positioning, Navigation and Timing office at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, manages the effort. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California, and completion is expected by Feb. 1, 2026.

The stakes fall heaviest on the Space Force, which depends on ESS to close a looming gap as legacy satellites reach the end of their service lives. Boeing benefits through sustained funding and a widening backlog in its space unit, a business the manufacturer has worked to stabilize. Taxpayers carry the cost-plus risk, a structure that reimburses expenses plus a fixed fee and shifts overruns toward the government rather than the contractor.

The award sits inside a much larger year for the manufacturer. This modification marks the 33rd contract awarded to The Boeing Co.in 2026, bringing the company’s total defense contract value for the year to $34.9 billion, according to firestore:contracts. It ranks as the 90th Department of Defense contract awarded in California during 2026. The figure trails Boeing’s largest-ever award of $25.4 billion and falls between the Air Force portfolio’s 2026 range of $17 at the low end and $5.6 billion at the high end.

For the average reader, the contract will not change a household budget or a daily commute. It funds the plumbing of national security, the encrypted links that let leaders communicate during a crisis. The indirect stake is the tax dollar routed into a single California facility and the jobs tied to it.

This has happened before. Boeing has received a steady stream of modifications on the ESS contract as the program advances through development milestones, and the underlying deal has grown incrementally toward its $2.87 billion ceiling. Iterative funding of this kind is standard for multiyear space acquisition, where money is obligated in tranches tied to progress.

The next decision rests with the Space Systems Command office at Los Angeles Air Force Base, which will determine future funding tranches and production commitments. A date for the next modification has not been announced.

Military satellite communications have anchored American strategy for decades, as happened before. The first Defense Satellite Communications System spacecraft launched in 1966, and the Milstar constellation followed in 1994 to guarantee messaging through jamming and attack, according to boeing.com. Each generation demanded larger budgets and longer schedules than planners first projected. The contractors that carried those programs, Boeing among them, secured recurring revenue that outlasted individual administrations.

This contract represents the 33rd contract awarded to The Boeing Co., in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $34,870,242,642. It is also the 90th Department of Defense contract awarded in California during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to The Boeing Co., whose record stands at $25,357,000,000, it is notable within the Air Force portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Air Force portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $17 and maximum of $5,600,000,000. Overall, this award was announced among 8 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 6, 2026.