Pentagon may turn to Elon Musk's SpaceX for military satellites

The Pentagon may turn to SpaceX to deploy satellites to track missile threats due to funding constraints from the Trump administration and the rapid development of China's space industry, The Washington Post reports.

Last month, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) raised concerns during a congressional hearing that the Pentagon is overhauling the Space Force satellite program, which was originally developed with the participation of several contractors, and is now outsourcing much of the work to SpaceX. However, with competitors lagging behind SpaceX, many believe they will not be able to catch up, forcing NASA and the Pentagon to focus on SpaceX, given the growing competition in space from China and other countries.

Elon Musk's company receives billions of dollars from the government, carrying everything from cargo to astronauts and some Department of Defense satellites. SpaceX also has more than 7,000 Starlink internet satellites in orbit, more than any other company.

"They [SpaceX] don’t need an unfair advantage. But the fact that Elon’s in the White House is going to make people wonder if there is some unfair advantage. There will be an asterisk next to every SpaceX win. It taints everything, whether it’s fair or not," said Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Institute.

The Space Force has repeatedly stated that it wants to rely on a large number of contractors who would compete with each other and drive innovation, efficiency, and price reductions.

In a statement, the Air Force and Space Force said they were working with the Office of the Secretary of Defense to "evaluate all acquisition programs" as the Trump administration seeks to cut the Pentagon’s budget by 8% to redirect those funds to new priorities. However, the agencies stressed that "no decisions" have yet been made on the satellite system, known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture program.