As this issue was going to press, reports that Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) filed suit against Lockheed Martin and Boeing Co. Oct. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California began circulating.

SpaceX is 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, p. 1). The alliance would provide the U.S. government with a single company to deal with when ordering Lockheed Martin’s Atlas rocket and Boeing’s Delta rocket.

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