Posted on Jul 25, 2023
Space Force plans to 'guarantee' future launch missions with 3 providers faces near term...
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Amid growing concerns about the potential for Elon Musk’s SpaceX to virtually monopolize the US government space launch market in the near- to medium-term, the Space Force has drafted a new plan to expand the number of heavy-lift rocket providers for its future must-have satellites to three — as opposed to its earlier draft plan issued in February that called for only two.
The issue, sources say, is that there may not be any competitor actually able to provide a second option for the initial timeframe sought by the Space Force, let alone a third.
The issue, sources say, is that there may not be any competitor actually able to provide a second option for the initial timeframe sought by the Space Force, let alone a third.
Space Force plans to 'guarantee' future launch missions with 3 providers faces near term...
Posted from breakingdefense.com
Defense
Space
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
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Lt Col Charlie Brown There is a large and very secure Space Force base in new Boston NH...Going to drive by it today actually on my way to Central Mass.
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It's hard to put in all the money to build a rocket, only to have it not make it to space. But then you have to have backups, and more backups to provide proof of concept and replacements of faulty boosters. It's an expensive business to make a mark in, and Elon kind of has cornered the market.
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SFC Casey O'Mally
Elon did not corner the market.
He created it. Honestly, only big multinationals can even contemplate affording to compete. I can see either Alphabet or Amazon getting into the business. Alphabet because "why not?" And Amazon as the next stage for theircyber business model (along with their web servers and cloud storage), by using the rockets to launch their own private satellites, and loaning the capability to governments in their spare time.
The only other (American) competitors I can see on the horizon are already major military contractors - Lockheed Martin or Boeing. And with their existing government connections, I would assume they would be developing as contractors for NASA and/or Space force, not as private rocket companies.
It is much less a question of who than it is a question of why.
He created it. Honestly, only big multinationals can even contemplate affording to compete. I can see either Alphabet or Amazon getting into the business. Alphabet because "why not?" And Amazon as the next stage for theircyber business model (along with their web servers and cloud storage), by using the rockets to launch their own private satellites, and loaning the capability to governments in their spare time.
The only other (American) competitors I can see on the horizon are already major military contractors - Lockheed Martin or Boeing. And with their existing government connections, I would assume they would be developing as contractors for NASA and/or Space force, not as private rocket companies.
It is much less a question of who than it is a question of why.
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