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Friday, April 29, 2016

SpaceX just landed a coveted $83 million military contract

Watch SpaceX rocket lift off with Jason-3 satellite

Elon Musk's SpaceX has been awarded an $82.7 million contract to send a U.S. Air Force satellite into space, shattering Boeing-Lockheed's long-held monopoly over military launches.

The contract to launch the Air Force's next generation GPS satellite in 2018 opens a lucrative new revenue stream for SpaceX, which plans to keep costs low by re-using its first-stage rockets.

A successful launch would also prove that the military has more than one option for sensitive launches.

Awarding the contract to SpaceX "achieves a balance between mission success, meeting operational needs, lowering launch costs, and reintroducing competition for National Security Space missions," said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, Air Force Program Executive Officer for Space.

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