The United States Department of Defense has selected Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Elon Musk's SpaceX, and the joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed—United Launch Alliance (ULA)—to bid for national security space missions. An initial selection has identified these three companies to participate in a reward program valued at $5.6 billion.
The Pentagon has not disclosed which rockets from these companies were chosen but mentioned that a total of seven companies bid for the program. This initiative aims to select new rockets that can be ready for their first space mission by December.
These three companies are the first to be selected under the Pentagon's third phase of the National Security Space Launch procurement program. This is a multi-billion-dollar competition among U.S. rocket companies to launch America's most sensitive military and intelligence satellites over approximately the next decade.
Since 2020, SpaceX and ULA, the two giants of the launch industry, have been the primary rocket launch providers for the Pentagon's previous phase (Phase Two) program. This program allocated 60% of all Pentagon missions to ULA, with the remaining missions handled by SpaceX, continuing through 2027.
However, in the third-phase program, the Pentagon aims to attract more companies to participate in its space missions over the next decade, with the primary goal of stimulating more competition within the U.S. launch industry.
Thursday's announcement brings Bezos' Blue Origin into a competitive field it has long aspired to join, as the company seeks to bring its massive New Glenn rocket to market and enhance its competitive standing against SpaceX.
