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.
No comments:
Post a Comment