The Wall Street Journal has an article stating that the BLoMart EELV monopoly will be approved, with a carveout in case SpaceX is successful in its Falcon program. In pertinent part...
After seven months of deliberations and some false starts, the companies have convinced the Pentagon of the venture's projected cost savings, these officials said. Now, the Pentagon is drafting language to provide the antitrust protection sought by Northrop Grumman Corp. and a fledging rocket maker, which contend that their respective satellite and launch businesses would be hurt by the Boeing-Lockheed monopoly.
Final federal approval is still at least weeks away, the officials cautioned, but an important hurdle has been cleared. Pentagon acquisition chief Kenneth Krieg, senior Air Force officials and Pentagon lawyers have agreed to recommend the proposed joint venture to the Federal Trade Commission, which has the authority to approve the deal.
The commission is expected to follow the Pentagon's recommendation, the knowledgeable officials said. Both Boeing, of Chicago, and Lockheed, of Bethesda, Md., have signaled their willingness to accept the competitive safeguards currently being drafted, industry officials said.
I can't believe the military actually bought BLoMart's line of argument. Unless either the Delta or the Atlas program is discontinued, and meanwhile SpaceX is successful in its Falcon program, the cost savings argument seems bogus to me.
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