Posted on 04/08/2025 10:18:50 AM PDT by Red Badger
Tech billionaire and DOGE chief Elon Musk is constantly under fire these days by the lunatic left, but on the real world, where relevant things are in motion, he continues to excel and thrive.
His SpaceX company is reported to be about to considerably expand its share of military business, as the Pentagon considers overhauling a program to deploy hundreds of missile-tracking satellites into low orbit.
Washington Post reported:
“Competitors have fallen so far behind SpaceX that many fear they won’t be able to catch up, leaving NASA and the Pentagon with few other options as it faces increased competition in space from China and other nations. Musk’s hard-charging company rakes in billions of dollars from the U.S. government, flying everything from cargo to astronauts to some of the Defense Department’s most sensitive satellites. The company also operates more than 7,000 Starlink internet satellites in orbit, more than any other entity.”
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is the most reliable rocket in space exploration history. Space Force has planned on multiple contractors driving innovation, efficiency and obtaining lower prices.
SpaceX already operates a militarized version of its Starlink network known as Starshield, used by the Pentagon and intelligence agencies.
“In a statement, the Air Force and Space Force said they are working with the Office of the Secretary of Defense ‘to evaluate all acquisition programs’ at a time when the Trump administration is looking to cut the Pentagon’s budget by 8 percent so that the money can be used for new priorities. But the agencies said that ‘no decisions had been made’ regarding the satellite system, known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture program[…].
The Pentagon is expected to spend $35 billion on the missile-tracking system, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). It’s not clear whether the Pentagon is considering canceling the contracts awarded earlier to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, York Space Systems and Rocket Lab, or if it would restructure an upcoming solicitation.”
Large satellites are vulnerable to attack, so the Pentagon is opting for swarms of smaller satellites, hard to target and providing redundancy when they are.
The missile warning system is expected to have between 300 to 500 satellites in low Earth orbit.
“The Pentagon has moved to allow for greater competition in another multibillion program: launching the satellites it increasingly relies on for modern warfare operations like precision-guided munitions, reconnaissance and communication.
To allow more companies to vie for the contracts, the Pentagon created two ‘lanes’ of launch competitions. Lane 1 would allow new entrants to bid on individual contracts to launch satellites that are smaller and not as vital; Lane 2 would be reserved for more powerful and proven rockets that would hoist satellites that cannot risk failure.”
SpaceX won the majority of the lane 2 contracts that run through 2029.
The Pentagon is expected to increasingly go with SpaceX since the Falcon 9 rocket is one the of the most reliable in history.
Defund NASA, Now! Government agencies, such as NASA are proving to be too cumbersome, non-innovative, and stuck on stupid.
Tony Stark is amazing.
There are tremendous levels of Waste, Fraud and Abuse at the Pentagon. I hope they aren’t trying to slip a $35B bribe over to Elon. Because I don’t think that’s going to work.
Wrong thread?
Yeah, even the WaPo writers were reduced to acknowledging the obvious -- with no sense of any quid pro quo for being a friend of Trump. The contracts are based on sheer ability to perform the task.
Good idea.
Rather too much SpaceX hype.
The Delta II had 100 consecutive successful launches of payload into orbit.
Falcon 9 has a long way to go to be the more reliable rocket in history. The stats for it are never quoted as Falcon 9. Always as Falcon “family”. You only need one partial failure to destroy the pursuit of “100 consecutive”. It has 470 launches . . . **in the family** but no one variant has achieved the 100 consecutive record put out there by Delta II.
Delta II stats are carefully quoted as the specific rocket variant. There are other Delta rockets that could be added. It completed its run in 2018 with the 100th consecutive success.
SpaceX won the majority of the lane 2 contracts that run through 2029.
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The big contract that SpaceX did not win was the Direct to Geosynchronous Orbit one. Blue Origin [ Bezos ] won for two reasons: their New Glenn rocket has a larger fairing then StarShip for a physically large payload & can go from launch to orbit directly; for StarShip to reach geosynchronous orbit would have to be refueled - which would take too much time and as yet is unproven.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, on the other hand, has yet to have a successful launch
I was making a joke that Elon Musk is the real life Tony Stark.
I figured it would be obvious to anyone with two brain cells in a row.
Falcon 9 has a long way to go to be the more reliable rocket in history
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False.
The Falcon 9 rocket achieved a record of 120 consecutive successful orbital launches without a failure or partial failure from January 14, 2017, to April 21, 2022. This streak is the longest of any rocket model to date.
Interesting, informative. Thanks posters. BTTT.
Sorry bud, the Delta II program has a long history. Over a span of 29 years, the rocket launched 155 times with 100 consecutive successful missions, culminating in the final ICESat-2 flight for NASA. The Falcon 9 nearly exceeded that number with 134 Falcon 9 launches in just 1 year.
In 2024, SpaceX launched a record-breaking 134 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, a significant increase from 96 in 2023, surpassing all other launch entities combined.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
Total Launches: SpaceX performed 134 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches in 2024.
Falcon 9 Launches: 132 of those launches were Falcon 9, with 133 successes and 1 failure.
Falcon Heavy Launches: 2 of the launches were Falcon Heavy.
Starlink Missions: About two-thirds of the launches were dedicated to Starlink, with the remaining one-third for customer missions.
Record-Breaking Year: This launch surge helped set a new global launch record in 2024, with SpaceX performing more orbital launches than the rest of the world combined.
Non-Starlink Missions: 45 of the 134 launches were for customers, up from 33 in 2023.
Launch Success Rate: SpaceX achieved a 99.3% launch success rate in 2024.
Reusable Boosters: SpaceX reused 126 boosters in 2024.
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