Successful launch of SES 10.
The Pentagon is to conduct an evaluation into the certification of the launch vehicles used by Elon Musk’s SpaceX program.
The investigation is into the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
The USAF issued its certification to SpaceX in 2015, a move that permitted the company to take on regular defence contractors Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp.
“Our objective is to determine whether the U.S. Air Force complied with the Launch Services New Entrant Certification Guide when certifying the launch system design for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle-class SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles,” the inspector general wrote in a memo sent to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson.
Its commercial launches have not been without incident. In September 2016, a launch pad anomaly ahead of the launch of Amos 6 destroyed the Israeli satellite.
It’s not known what sparked the Pentagon investigation.
