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Air Force Certifies SpaceX's Falcon 9 Rocket For Military Launches

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The United States Air Force announced today that it has certified the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for national security missions. This certification means that there are now two launch providers capable of competing for military launch contracts. Previously, United Launch Alliance was the only company so certified.

SpaceX should get its first opportunity to compete for Air Force launches in June, when the Air Force expects that it will put out a Request For Proposal for GPS satellite launches.

"This is a very important milestone for the Air Force and the Department of Defense," said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said in a statement. "SpaceX’s emergence as a viable commercial launch provider provides the opportunity to compete launch services for the first time in almost a decade. Ultimately, leveraging of the commercial space market drives down cost to the American taxpayer and improves our military’s resiliency."

SpaceX has been aggressively pursuing the ability to compete for these contracts for some time. The certification process itself has taken about two years. And last spring, the company filed a protest with the United States Court of Federal Claims against the Air Force for awarding a block contract with ULA.

"National security launches should be competitive and not sole-sourced," CEO Elon Musk said at the time of that filing.

In January 2015, the lawsuit against the Air Force was dropped after the two parties reached an agreement. Former Attorney John Ashcroft mediated the agreement between the two parties.

"This is an important step toward bringing competition to National Security Space launch," Musk said in a statement about the certification. "We thank the Air Force for its confidence in us and look forward to serving it well."

 

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