SpaceX Lands First Military Contract With The U.S. Air Force
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Elon Musk is probably the most famous person that most people have never heard of. The CEO of SpaceX — a private aerospace and space exploration company — has scored its first military contract with the U.S. Air Force. The U.S. Military wants a rocket, and they want it now!
According to Reuters, the U.S. Air Force is going to pay SpaceX $97 million for one of their Falcon 9 rockets. They want to use the rocket to launch the Deep Space Climate Observatory, a NASA-operated solar telescope in 2014. They will also pay $165 million for a Falcon Heavy rocket for military’s Space Test Program-2 satellite in 2015.
SpaceX was founded in 2002 and has since gained praise for its ambitious plans, revolutionary designs, and the deals they have made with the U.S. Government, NASA, and other foreign government agencies. Recently, they have expressed interest and plans to launch an expedition to settle Mars, closed a $1.6 billion deal with NASA, supplied the European Space Agency technology to venture to the Moon, and were the first private company to dock with and supply the International Space Station.
In a statement regarding SpaceX’s first military contract, the SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said, “SpaceX deeply appreciates and is honored by the vote of confidence shown by the Air Force in our Falcon launch vehicles.”
It’s amazing how much SpaceX has accomplished in only 10 years of existence. The private aerospace and space exploration company is quickly becoming the leader of innovation and cutting-edge space technology. Elon Musk is becoming the Henry Ford of aerospace. He’s also the CEO of the electric car company Tesla Motors, whose Model S was named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year. Now that’s impressive!
