SpaceX approved for US military launches

This move opens up the market which has been a monopoly for a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin until now.

Musk said the decision was “"an important step toward bringing competition to national security space launch”.

The US military has been relying on Russian built engines for space launches, which US lawmakers have outlawed from 2019 for launches that concern national security. The certification of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will provide a viable alternative ahead of the ban.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said: “This is a very important milestone for the air force and the Department of Defense… SpaceX's emergence as a viable commercial launch provider provides the opportunity to compete launch services for the first time in almost a decade.”

Space X will could have a chance to bid for the militaries’ new GPS satellite launches as early as July 2015.

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