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Re:Concordia Students Set to Launch Most Powerful Rocket Dev... by benj111 on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @05:59AM (#34608953)
@p_l Can't respond to your comment directly.

Spacexs first dod contract was in 2016. Spacex successfully landed their first falcon in 2015. They were already the company we know and 'love' prior to them getting any dod contracts.

Re:Concordia Students Set to Launch Most Powerful Rocket Dev... by p_l on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @06:09AM (#34609017)
While Falcon 1 was developed on internal funding, the first two launches were paid for by DoD through DARPA. There was also a 15 million USD contract to launch a military satellite in 2005, that ultimately fell through (unknown how much was paid to SpaceX by the time of cancellation, but definitely not 0). In 2005, SpaceX boasted USAF as customer lined up for Falcon 1 launches.

Ultimately, first 2 launches the customer was purely military, and third launch by SpaceX was shared military / NASA / civilian client.