Elon Musk and SpaceX Win Support from Federal Court on Space Equipment from Russia

Only six days after SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk announced that he planned to file an official protest against the U.S. Air Force for monopolizing national security-related launches, a federal court responded to his claim.

The United Launch Alliance is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin and they have had the right to perform 36 national security-related launches for the United States since they formed in 2006. Elon Musk apparently has a problem with that.

During a press conference last Friday, Musk told reporters that it's not fair the ULA is the undisputed company for such launches with no competition in sight. He believes the Air Force's contract with ULA is a monopoly on such missions and it's not fair that his company cannot compete for the right to conduct national security launches.

The ULA obtains its engines for their spacecraft from Russia. Currently, the United States has sanctions issued against Russia due to the crisis in Ukraine. Musk claims that if SpaceX conducted the launches, the American taxpayers would save over $1 billion annually.

"Despite the continuing promise of lower costs since 2006, the fact is that the current situation of sole-source providers has become unsustainable," said Musk in his testimony before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense in March. "SpaceX is ready to compete for the national security market."

His pleading caught the attention of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Wednesday. The court injunction agreed with Musk's assertion in regards to the ULA purchasing rocket engines from Russia while the White House has imposed temporary trade restrictions on them. As a result, the ULA is forbidden from purchasing any rocket engines from NPO Energomash, the Russian firm.

On Monday, President Obama's administration announced sanctions that target seven Russian government officials and 17 companies linked to President Vladimir Putin's inner circle along with a moratorium on military technology exports. These sanctions provided an upper hand for the federal court, which expanded the scope of sanctions against Russia in the temporary injunction.

"The air force and United Launch Alliance is prohibited from making any purchases from or payment of money to NPO Energomash," wrote Federal Claims Court Judge Susan Braden, via this Wall Street Journal article.