SpaceX may be able to secure military rocket deals sometime this year

SpaceX sued the US Air Force last year for awarding a near exclusive $11 billion contract to the United Launch Alliance on the grounds that the joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin bribed the USAF into preventing SpaceX from even attempting to bid for the contract. Fortunately, the company might be able to bid for at least some of the USAF’s 26 planned rocket launches this year. 

The U.S. Air Force said on Wednesday that it expects to clear Elon Musk ’s space venture to compete for Pentagon satellite launches by mid-2015, six months later than previously planned. Mr. Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, has been aggressively pursuing the multibillion-dollar market for military and intelligence rocket launches that is dominated by a joint venture between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. SpaceX sued the Pentagon in an effort to break up an $11 billion, multiyear deal with the joint venture, known as the United Launch Alliance LLC, or ULA. That case continues. Congress also has been pushing the Pentagon to open up the market to competition following criticism of the high cost of launches by ULA, though the joint venture has been taking steps to reduce the costs.