Eight years ago, Elon Musk made a controversial decision.
Frustrated by the near-monopoly that the United Launch Alliance (ULA) -- a joint venture between Boeing (BA 0.25%) and Lockheed Martin (LMT -0.75%) -- had over rocket launches of U.S. military satellites, the CEO of upstart space company SpaceX sued the U.S. government to open up Air Force contracts to competitive bidding. It was a risky move, since Musk was suing SpaceX's biggest customer, but the lawsuit paid off.
The government settled with SpaceX, certifying it to launch military satellites, and set up the company for a huge run of success as an honest-to-goodness U.S. defense contractor. Since becoming certified to launch military payloads, SpaceX has put multiple satellites into orbit for the Air Force.
Now SpaceX is taking the next logical step: becoming an international defense contractor as well.
A satellite view of the Korean peninsula. Image source: Getty Images.
How do you say "Let's light this candle!" in Korean?
In 2020, for what appears to be the first time ever, SpaceX launched a military satellite for a foreign power: South Korea. Technically, SpaceX launched that country's Anasis-2 communications satellite (comsat) as a subcontractor for Lockheed Martin, which had a contract to procure and launch a military satellite for the Southeast Asian nation. (For whatever reason -- probably price considerations -- Lockheed chose to fly the satellite with its competitor, rather than using a rocket from its own subsidiary, ULA.)
This time around, however, SpaceX will be acting directly for the Koreans.
As SpaceNews.com reported earlier this month, SpaceX has signed a deal to put five South Korean spy satellites into orbit by 2025, beginning with the launch of an electro-optical infrared satellite into low Earth orbit (LEO) in 2023. Subsequent launches will send up four more satellites over two years -- also into LEO -- giving the South Korea military the ability to monitor North Korean military facilities roughly once every two hours.
South Korea hasn't disclosed the price it will pay for these launches, but SpaceNews notes that the total value of the project is estimated at $970 million.
And how do you say it in Turkish?
SpaceX's 2020 Korean launch was its first military satellite launch for a nation allied with the U.S., but it might not be the company's only foreign military client. In February, SpaceX sparked something of a kerfuffle with critics of Turkish government policies over a planned launch of two communications satellites, Turksat 6A and 6B, which were described as having "well-documented military applications" in providing flight data to Turkish military drones.
If these comsats are considered military missions, then it stands to reason that SpaceX's launch of two other satellites for Turkey -- Turksat 5A and 5B -- last year might have already made Turkey SpaceX's second foreign military client in space launches.
What it means to investors
Military satellite launches can be a touchy subject -- much more so than innocuous launches of GPS satellites (everybody loves GPS) or astronauts to the International Space Station, for example. If SpaceX can stand the heat, however, such launches can be a lucrative market to expand into.
The high priority of such missions means governments are often willing to pay a premium to ensure that all goes well. In 2018, for example, a contract to put a U.S. Air Force Command-52 satellite into orbit secured $130 million in revenue for SpaceX -- more than twice what it was charging for a commercial Falcon 9 launch at the time.
Generally speaking, governments prefer to have their nations' own space contractors conduct launches that are closely tied to national security, preventing commercial companies like SpaceX from competing for the lucrative work. But countries lacking well-developed space programs of their own might have little choice but to outsource the work.
In such cases, it's logical to seek out the lowest-cost solution for their space launch needs. With SpaceX offering rocket launches for as little as $67 million, it makes sense that they'd make a beeline for Musk's company. That's bad news for higher-price operators like Boeing and Lockheed and Airbus's Arianespace in Europe. It's good news for SpaceX, however, and it appears that the company is taking full advantage of it.
And here's more good news: a way you can invest in privately held SpaceX.
