The US military seems to be getting nervous about the launch supply crunch

The US military is taking a new approach to prop up commercial launch companies as SpaceX looks to wind down its Falcon rocket program, suggesting defense officials see the workhorse rocket’s retirement as a potential national security risk.

The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital has twice in the last two weeks announced it was sending cash to two of SpaceX’s competitors in the launch business. First, on October 26, the office announced a $150 million conditional loan commitment to Stoke Space. Military officials revealed a second $150 million Pentagon loan Tuesday for Rocket Lab.

Stoke Space and Rocket Lab are the first two launch companies to receive significant support from the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC), an organization established in 2022 to infuse companies developing “vital” national security technologies with capital. OSC has been on a loan spree in recent weeks, committing hundreds of millions of dollars to companies specializing in batteries, drones, and semiconductors. In the space sector, the office also provided a $150 million loan to LeoLabs, a commercial satellite tracking company, for production and deployment of radar units.

SpaceX, the Pentagon’s leading launch provider, has stopped taking commercial orders for Falcon 9 launches after 2028 as the company shifts its focus to the next-generation, super-heavy-lift Starship rocket. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches for government customers, including NASA and the US Space Force, are expected to continue a while longer. The Space Force’s launch contract with SpaceX allows the military to place Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy orders through 2029, with the actual launches extending through 2033.

Then, if Starship is fulfilling its promise, SpaceX plans to retire Falcon for good. Starship may eventually be capable of launching national security payloads, but SpaceX’s near-term priority is using the rocket’s massive cargo capacity for its own Starlink Internet satellites and Starmind orbital data centers.