(by Francesco Matera) How much can private individuals contribute to national security? A good question but also a prospect that can be the turning point for those programs whose exorbitant costs can no longer be supported by governments. Especially with the ongoing economic crisis due to the CoViD-19 pandemic. If the most powerful and richest country in the world, the United States of America relies on Elon Musk (SpaceX) and Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin) for the development and putting into orbit of military satellites it means that the future is to rely on increasingly to PPP (Public and Private Partnership).
It is a few hours ago the news that the aerospace company SpaceX di Elon Musk won a ten-year tender to secure a billion-dollar contract ($ 4 to $ 6 billion) as a satellite supplier to the Pentagon. To make it known to the press directlyUSAF, the Air Force with stars and stripes: "SpaceX will join the United Launch Alliance (Ula) - a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin - for the launch of approximately 50 satellites scheduled until 2027 ”.
SpaceX's biggest competitor in the industry is the company Blue Origin di Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. With the contract just awarded, Elon Musk surpasses Jeff Bezos in the sector and consolidates his presence among the most trusted and reliable companies in the Pentagon. The two American private giants over the years have invested heavily in the sector of support for aerospace missions, military satellite launches and explorations on new planets. The next challenge is the Moon with the Artemis mission.
The US Space Agency has selected three companies to develop manned landing systems for its Artemis moon missions. In addition to SpaceX, there will be Blue Origin and Huntsville's Dynetics. The horizon is 2024, when the Human Landing Systems (HLS) chosen among the three will have the task of bringing the United States back to the moon.
Large companies have understood that from now on governments will rely more and more on the private sector to conquer hegemony in the new dimension of international confrontation. Space.