Space Force’s Dependence on Elon Musk Just Got a Little More Mission Critical

When it comes to commercial launch providers, the U.S. Space Force clearly has a favorite. On Friday, the military branch assigned the majority of its upcoming national security missions to SpaceX, while Blue Origin fell behind pending the conclusion of a rocket certification process.

The Space Force awarded contracts to SpaceX and the United Launch Alliance (ULA) worth more than $1 billion as part of its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program. SpaceX snagged five of the seven military…