The US military seems to be getting nervous about the launch supply crunch
Summary
The Pentagon is providing loans to launch companies Stoke Space and Rocket Lab as SpaceX plans to stop taking commercial Falcon 9 orders after 2028. The funding aims to expand the number of U.S. companies that could launch national security satellites as the Space Force expects launch demand to rise.Key Facts
- The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital announced a conditional $150 million loan commitment to Stoke Space on October 26.
- The office announced a $150 million loan for Rocket Lab on Tuesday.
- Stoke Space and Rocket Lab are the first launch companies to receive significant support from the Office of Strategic Capital.
- SpaceX plans to end commercial orders for Falcon 9 launches after 2028 while shifting its focus to Starship.
- Space Force contracts allow the military to order Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches through 2029, with launches scheduled to continue through 2033.
- The Space Force currently relies on SpaceX’s Falcon rockets and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket; Vulcan has been grounded twice in the past two years because of solid rocket booster problems.
- Space Systems Command forecasts a need for as many as 249 medium-to-heavy-lift launches through the early 2030s, more than twice its estimate from two years earlier.
- Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Stoke Space, Relativity Space and Impulse Space have been tapped as eligible to compete for some national security launch work.
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