The U.S. Defense Department is considering deploying a constellation of military satellites around the moon. On Nov. 9, local time, IT outlet ArsTechnica reported that the Department of the Air Force posted a request for information (RFI) on a federal procurement website and began gathering industry views on satellite systems that would operate in cislunar space near the moon.

The RFI did not include specific missions. It did set out an option to deploy up to 5 spacecraft carrying government-provided payloads in late 2029 to meet military mission needs. The initial satellites could serve as seed for developing a procurement strategy for a larger cislunar constellation later.

The Department of the Air Force asked companies to propose rapid, low-risk solutions that can support the government's technical and business goals. It said it could review collected market information and related materials and then award up to 5 fixed-price preliminary design study contracts. Responses are due Nov. 24.

Moves to extend the military's operational reach around the moon have become clearer recently. Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, the Space Force's program executive officer for Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power, said at an event in October that top Defense Department leadership views the space near the moon as a warfighting domain. That trend strengthened after an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in December last year. The order addressed capabilities to detect and respond to threats to U.S. space interests from low Earth orbit to cislunar space.

As the United States and China expand lunar programs including robotic exploration and crewed moon landings, U.S. officials have also cited that safe landing sites with access to water ice at the moon's south pole are limited. Gen. Chance Saltzman, who led the Space Force, said before stepping down that the United States must be prepared for situations in which it must protect its interests.

Missions for satellites around the moon have not been disclosed, but their roles could be similar to those of satellites in Earth orbit. Tracking and characterising other objects, navigation and communications, and surveillance have been mentioned. The U.S. military is not yet at a stage of sending weapons to the moon.

The Defense Department has already been carrying out related missions. Clementine, a joint spacecraft of the U.S. space agency and the Defense Department, captured early clues of water ice in permanently shadowed craters at the moon's south pole. The Oracle-Mobility mission, worth $75 million and led by the Air Force Research Laboratory, is expected to launch toward the moon in mid-2027. Oracle-Prime is set to complete launch preparations by late 2027 and will be tasked with detecting and tracking other satellites and debris near Earth-Moon Lagrange point 1.