Elon Musk at shareholder’s meeting September 22; courtesy of Tesla
In spite of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk having been snubbed by the Pentagon in years past, it now looks as if the two are teaming up quite nicely.
In recent months, Musk and SpaceX have managed to partner over a number of civilian launch contracts totalling about $5 billion dollars (USD), according to the Wall Street Journal.
Alongside these, SpaceX also has contracts supplying the US military with missile-detecting satellite prototypes, as well as facilitating rocket launches, together estimated to be worth $6 billion, and ultimately growing to $9 billion more in ongoing National Aeronautics and Space Administration awards – much of which is dedicated to ferrying astronauts and cargo to and from the International Space Station.
Elon Musk's SpaceX in recent months has secured deals for everything from launching premier national-security satellites to improving weather forecasting for the military https://t.co/stkaUyPuGK
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) November 4, 2020
SpaceX, officially known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., has also worked with the Army and Navy in the past. And in recent weeks, the Southern California company signed an agreement with the Pentagon regarding the study of a SpaceX-proposed deep-space Starship transport, which would essentially be a huge capsule with rocket engines built-in, in order to transport cargo efficiently around the world.
One thing is for sure: the future is shaping up strangely. Still, it’s quite the feat for Musk to now be selling goods to the US military, after watching his other company, Tesla, almost go bankrupt early on in 2008.
