SpaceX just signed a contract with the United States Department of Defense last Friday, pledging to deliver military cargo with its cargo rockets.
This contract, worth 102 million dollars, aims to transport military equipment and humanitarian aid all over the world via rocket freight.
SpaceX at the heart of all attention
Elon Musk’s company is having some success with the US military. After winning a $149.2 million contract with the Space Development Agency to design satellites optimized for the detection and tracking of ballistic missiles, SpaceX is this time asked by the US Air Force to develop a network military cargo space via orbit.
Note that NASA has also signed a contract with SpaceX to use the Starship orbital launcher for its next space missions. While Elon Musk intends this equipment for commercial passenger flights around the world, the US Air Force could tend to replace humans with military cargo in this program.
Largest contract awarded for rocket freight
Greg Spanjers, the US Air Force’s rocket cargo program manager, told Space News that the Air Force was very interested in the ability [de SpaceX] to deliver cargo anywhere on Earth to support humanitarian aid and disaster relief “, further claiming to explore” a wide range of landing options for the most austere sites “.
For the moment, the contract does not reveal any information concerning the rockets which will be used, or the program of the first demonstration flights. If the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets have already been used for military missions in the past, we also know that Elon Musk considers Starship to be the vehicle of the future…
For his part, Greg Spanjers added that the delivery of this type of cargo from orbit remains a first and that other spacecraft launch companies could be awarded similar contracts.
Source: Space News
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