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Pentagon moves to declassify some secret space programs and technologies

space.com

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Re: Pentagon moves to declassify some secret space programs and technologies

#4

Post by sandworm101 »

dgrin91 wrote: post #2

I wonder if this will lead to any more info about the X-37

Not likely. This seems to be about moving things from very very top secret to only very top secret, low enough to share with more civilian contractors but still far away from public knowledge... until someone with a high-mobility cubesat starts puttering around taking pictures up there.

Re: Pentagon moves to declassify some secret space programs and technologies

#6

Post by tw04 »

This is essentially about letting Space-X in on more military missions that today they can only pass through Boeing and co.

Presumably Space-X wasn't willing to take an entire chunk of staff and dedicate them to military-only missions and/or had staff that couldn't even pass the stringent security clearance requirements. The US government still wants to utilize them for missions, especially with starship and its payload capacity on the near horizon.

Re: Pentagon moves to declassify some secret space programs and technologies

#7

Post by alephnerd »

tw04 wrote: post #6

This is essentially about letting Space-X in on more military missions that today they can only pass through Boeing and co. Presumably Space-X wasn't willing to take an entire chunk of staff and dedicate them to military-only missions and/or had staff that couldn't even pass the stringent security clearance requirements. The US government still wants to utilize them for missions, especially with starship and its payl…

It will also help Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and other military contractors as well.

It's good to see the changes happening to help better support our R&D capacity.

The old method of having a single contractor monopolize an entire SKU was slowing down innovation and procurement.

Re: Pentagon moves to declassify some secret space programs and technologies

#8

Post by dylan604 »

alephnerd wrote: post #7
tw04 wrote: post #6

This is essentially about letting Space-X in on more military missions that today they can only pass through Boeing and co. Presumably Space-X wasn't willing to take an entire chunk of staff and dedicate them to military-only missions and/or had staff that couldn't even pass the stringent security clearance requirements. The US government still wants to utilize them for missions, especially with starship and its payl…

It will also help Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and other military contractors as well. It's good to see the changes happening to help better support our R&D capacity. The old method of having a single contractor monopolize an entire SKU was slowing down innovation and procurement.

It'll only help Boeing if they can pull their head out of their backside. To me, this is DoD realizing the Boeing can't do what they claim they can and need a new vendor. It's just that new vendor needs to have the rules modified a bit so they can qualify.

Re: Pentagon moves to declassify some secret space programs and technologies

#10

Post by TravisCooper »

tw04 wrote: post #6

This is essentially about letting Space-X in on more military missions that today they can only pass through Boeing and co. Presumably Space-X wasn't willing to take an entire chunk of staff and dedicate them to military-only missions and/or had staff that couldn't even pass the stringent security clearance requirements. The US government still wants to utilize them for missions, especially with starship and its payl…

Agreed. Glad to see the "opening up" of Aerospace/Military that SpaceX has enabled by simply being extremely competent. Anduril is also making great plays in the Military contractor space. They don't do "cost plus" projects, but design and build the entire POC themselves then offer it to US Armed Forces.
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