SpaceX Wins NASA Launch Contract

SpaceX of California has won a contract that could be valued up to $1 Billion to support Science, Space Operations and Exploration Systems mission launches; so it pretty much covers anything. It's open season on some of the more expensive launchers now that SpaceX can compete on launching spacecraft "weighing 551 pounds or heavier into a circular orbit of 124 miles at an orbital inclination of 28.5 degrees."

The cost of access to space is the most critical enabler of a flourishing space industry. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, began a rocket company because he initially wanted to send an experiment to Mars but realized the cost of launching there would be extremely expensive. He started SpaceX to solve that problem.