Pentagon Buys Atlas, Delta Launches For $1.5 Billion

The company that launches Atlas V and Delta IV rockets from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is being awarded a $1.5 billion contract for several Department of Defense satellite-delivery missions, Pentagon procurement information shows.

The firm, fixed contract with United Launch Services, an arm of United Launch Alliance, calls for Atlas V rockets to launch a military weather satellite, a Navy communications satellite and three missions for the National Reconnaissance Office. Also in the pact are Delta IV launches of an Air Force Space Command payload, two Navstar Global Positioning System satellites, and the a number of military weather satellites launches.

The launch sites for the missions -- which will be launched by June 2014 -- are noit specified in the DoD Contract Announcement.

The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft are launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Navstar GPS satellites are launched from Cape Canaveral. So are Navy Mobile Uder Objective System satellites. NRO satellites are launched from both coasts.