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SpaceX Cleared For US Military Launches

Posted by Soulskill on from the low-earth-orbit-needs-more-lasers dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The U.S. Air Force has given private rocket company SpaceX clearance to launch military satellites into orbit. This disrupts the lock that Boeing and Lockheed Martin have had on military launches for almost a decade. SpaceX will get its first opportunity to bid for such launches in June, when the Air Force posts a contract to launch GPS satellites.

11 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Time to buy some SpaceX stocks....oh wait... by Eloking · · Score: 3, Informative

    Good news for them. If there's a sector where Aerospace with a huge margin (if not the only one), it's in the military. Look like SpaceX is entering the major league.

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    Elok
  2. Re:Slashdot problem by truavatar · · Score: 2

    Surely you could find a better forum to make this request than in the first comment on an article that hasn't even been replied to and is not even demonstrating the problematic functionality. Also, go space!!

  3. Elon Hours by gatkinso · · Score: 2

    And now Elon Musk will encounter the hordes of defense contractors who will refuse to work his infamous 60 hour weeks.

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    I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
    1. Re:Elon Hours by mwvdlee · · Score: 2

      So basically you got paid the equivalent of less than 35K/year.

      100k/year.
      50k/year for 40 hours.
      34.4k/year for 251 days/year.

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    2. Re:Elon Hours by gatkinso · · Score: 2

      What parties?

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      I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
  4. Context by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 3, Informative

    This ends a situation in which two companies that would otherwise have been competitive bidders decided that it would cost them less to be a monopoly, and created their own cartel. Since they were a sole provider, they persuaded the government to pay them a Billion dollars a year simply so that they would retain the capability to manufacture rockets to government requirements.

    Yes, there will be at least that Billion in savings and SpaceX so far seems more than competitive with the prices United Launch Alliance was charging. There will be other bidders eventually, as well.

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    Bruce Perens.
    1. Re:Context by budgenator · · Score: 2

      Don't worry, Bruce, now that the Air Force has experienced real competition, they want to keep it even if they have to pay a lot more to keep United Launch Alliance in business.

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      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    2. Re:Context by nitehawk214 · · Score: 2

      ULA was the result of exactly this. The four biggest aerospace companies all merged into two, Boeing/McDonald Douglass and Lockheed/Martin, then those two formed ULA as a joint venture. This is why ULA's Delta and Atlas are entirely different systems. They were created by different companies. They realized it was smart to not compete since they had nearly all big military launches.

      Presumably their next rocket, Vulcan, will be a replacement for both Delta and Atlas.

      Also, Alliant bought Orbital to form Orbital ATK, doing the exact same thing.

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      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    3. Re:Context by pavon · · Score: 2

      The Orbital ATK merger is different because they had complementary capabilities and weren't really competitors. Orbital didn't have any experience building rocket motors; they have always refurbished ICBMs for military launches, or purchased motors for their private launches. Whereas Thiokol produced many of those original ICBM motors that Oribital was reusing, and was already contracting with them to produce new motors for Antares. There was/is some overlap in the non-launch services parts of the companies, but as far as launch goes it was a pretty natural fit for them to merge.

  5. what's reassuring about this by goombah99 · · Score: 2

    I love it that the Military is making this a level playing field. In the past there have been instances where the Military industrial complex promised jobs to retiring Majors close to the purchase reccomendation process, tilting things. Then there's the stockholm syndrome and the nobody-ever-got-fired for buying IBM decision.
    But for the past decade the military has gone very pragmatic. It's all about what protects the warfighter. What works. It even tells congress it doesn't actually want a lot of the boondoggles congress shoves down its throat. Not that it's in any way perfect or there aren't some empire builders left in the system. But it's really nice to see evidence of this in things like Space-X cutting in on these dance partners.

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  6. Unfair competition by DickBreath · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe Space X will have a requirement to sell space launches through dealer networks, but United Launch Alliance will not have such a requirement.

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    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.