Musk Plays Russia Card in Fight to End Launch Monopoly
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Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Motors Inc., said U.S. military-satellite launches may be at risk because a joint venture of the government’s two biggest contractors relies on Russian engines.
The billionaire was in Washington today to back his space company’s push into the Pentagon launch market. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is trying to break the Lockheed Martin Corp.-Boeing Co. team’s monopoly on the work, which has an estimated value of $70 billion through 2030.