Elon Musk and his space transportation company have now filed an official complaint to end the monopoly on national security space launches. However, Musk says that opening up space launches to private enterprises can ultimately save the government up to $1 billion in space transportation costs.
The California-based space transport company has announced that they will be taking legal action against the awarding of space contract worth billions of dollars. Musk says that the contract should be opened to competition.
"This exclusive deal unnecessarily costs U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars and defers meaningful free competition for years to come," said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. "We are simply asking that SpaceX and any other qualified domestic launch providers be allowed to compete in the EELV program for any and all missions that they could launch." Musk is also the company's chief designer.
The transport of various payloads into low-Earth orbit is a multi-billion dollar affair. While the government has already spent billions into various projects for launching defense related payloads such as satellites into space, Musk says that they can do it for less money. The lucrative Air Force space transport contract was awarded to the United Launch Alliance (ULA) back in December. However, Musk says that the bidding process was uncompetitive and that his company could provide the same service at lower costs.
"In light of international events, this seems like the wrong time to send hundreds of millions of dollars to the Kremlin," Musk said. "Yet, this is what the Air Force's arrangement with ULA does, despite the fact that there are domestic alternatives available that do not rely on components from countries that pose a national security risk."
The contract in question involves the launching of 36 rockets for the delivery of a variety of defense related payloads into space. Current estimates say that the entire endeavor will cost the government around $70 billion by the year 2030.
Despite the announcement of a lawsuit, Musk clarified that his company is not attempting to have the contract awarded to SpaceX. Instead, the lawsuit serves as a means to open up space launches to more competition. Musk reiterated that his company is vying for a chance to compete for the contract fairly.
Following SpaceX's latest success with an ISS resupply mission last Easter, Musk has said that his company's rockets have already been proven to be reliable and cost effective. Given their past performance, Musk says that they could have submitted a bid that was $1 billion cheaper compared to the ULA's winning bid.
On the other hand, the ULA has announced that they were "proud and focused" regarding the alliance's new space contract. The ULA also said that improvements in its capabilities have already saved the government more than $4 billion.
