US Air Force to be sued over lack of competition

Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies plans to sue the US Air Force, saying it should be allowed to compete in a satellite-launch market monopolised by the two biggest defence contractors.

“If we compete and lose, that is fine,” the businessman said in Washington. “But why would they not even compete it?”

Musk’s company, known as SpaceX, is trying to break the Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture’s lock on military satellite launches, which have an estimated value of $70bn (€51bn) up to 2030. Lockheed and Boeing are the military’s biggest suppliers.