As this issue was going to press, reports surfaced that Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) filed suit to stop the creation of a government launch services joint venture by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co.

SpaceX filed suit Oct. 19 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California seeking an injunction to prevent Boeing and Lockheed Martin from completing a proposed merger of their respective launch services business under the United Launch Alliance (ULA) joint venture (SN, May 9). The alliance would provide the U.S. government with a single company to deal with when ordering satellite launches aboard Lockheed Martin’s Atlas 5 and Boeing’s Delta 4.

SpaceX alleges the two companies are seeking to prevent other companies, including SpaceX, from offering launch services to the U.S. government.