Musk’s SpaceX to Sue U.S. Air Force Over Launch Monopoly - Bloomberg
▻http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-26/musk-s-spacex-to-sue-u-s-air-force-over-launch-monopoly.html
Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. plans to sue the U.S. Air Force, saying it should be allowed to compete in a satellite-launch market monopolized by the two biggest defense contractors.
“If we compete and lose, that is fine,” he told reporters at the National Press Club in Washington. “But why would they not even compete it?”
Musk’s company, known as SpaceX, is trying to break the Lockheed (LMT) Martin Corp.-Boeing (BA) Co. joint venture’s lock on military satellite launches, which have an estimated value of $70 billion through 2030. Lockheed and Boeing are the military’s biggest suppliers.
SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, California, plans to file its suit Monday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. It’s seeking to reopen competition for a contract to the venture, United Launch Alliance LLC, for 36 rocket cores, said Ian Christopher McCaleb, senior vice president at Levick, a public relations firm representing SpaceX.
The Air Force agreed to the bulk purchase of the main rocket components last year. “This contract is costing U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars for no reason,” Musk said.