From the Feb. 21 Space Mobility Conference,
The Future of Starship includes national security missions
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Other space companies have signed agreements with U.S. Transportation Command*to explore rocket cargo concepts but only SpaceX has won a large contract.
Greg Spanjers, program manager for rocket cargo at AFRL [Air Force Research Lab], said the military envisions a future when it could be cheaper to send cargo via rocket than by transport aircraft. [...]
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Col. James Horne, deputy director of operations at U.S. Space Systems Command, said there are “compelling use cases” for shipping cargo around the world on rockets.[...]
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If rocket cargo moves forward and the technology matures, the Space Force would take the lead in managing the program and procuring services, he said.
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[SpaceX's Gary] Henry said the Starship human landing system [HLS = Moon ship] is on a path to support NASA, and not far into the future “we as a nation are going to have a capability that will fundamentally change the way we can protect and defend the space realm. And we are very excited about the prospects of being able to contribute to that discussion.”
>
Other space companies have signed agreements with U.S. Transportation Command*to explore rocket cargo concepts but only SpaceX has won a large contract.
Greg Spanjers, program manager for rocket cargo at AFRL [Air Force Research Lab], said the military envisions a future when it could be cheaper to send cargo via rocket than by transport aircraft. [...]
>
Col. James Horne, deputy director of operations at U.S. Space Systems Command, said there are “compelling use cases” for shipping cargo around the world on rockets.[...]
>
If rocket cargo moves forward and the technology matures, the Space Force would take the lead in managing the program and procuring services, he said.
>
[SpaceX's Gary] Henry said the Starship human landing system [HLS = Moon ship] is on a path to support NASA, and not far into the future “we as a nation are going to have a capability that will fundamentally change the way we can protect and defend the space realm. And we are very excited about the prospects of being able to contribute to that discussion.”
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