SpaceX won its first military contract worth $ 130 million to send a US Air Force satellite to space aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket. The satellite, known as the AFSPC-52, is scheduled to be launched in 2020 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
SpaceX has outperformed ULA, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing in 2006, which was preparing to use its Delta 4 heavy rocket to send the military satellite into space.
One of the objectives of competing companies against each other to win such contracts is to reduce costs to the government. Gen. John Thompson, commander of the Air Force and Missile Systems Center, said: "The award of the launch contract to SpaceX fits the mission of providing flexible space capabilities at affordable prices to our nation while maintaining guaranteed access to space." Where the average price of the launch of Delta 4 about 350 million dollars has not been built a heavy rocket from NASA so far.
"The company is honored by the selection of the Falcon Hevy Air Force to launch the AFSPC-52 satellite, and this contract signals the confidence of the US military in the company," said Gwyn Schottwell, Chief Operating Officer, SpaceX.
By awarding this launch contract to SpaceX, the US Air Force gives the company a confidence vote on the Falcon Hefei rocket, which has been launched only once so far. The first launch was successful in February after seven years of development and testing.
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