SpaceX Launches Classified Spy Satellite for U.S. Department of Defense

Posted May 1, 2017

External Article: Christian Science Monitor

Mariel Borowitz, associate professor in the Ivan Allen College School of International Affairs, was quoted in “SpaceX Launches Classified Spy Satellite for U.S. Department of Defense” by Christian Science Monitor.

Excerpt:

By breaking the monopoly, the launch became something of a coup for both SpaceX and private space companies in general. Governmental organizations like NASA are increasingly turning to private companies for tasks ranging from satellite deployment to human transportation into space, blurring the line between public and private space missions. While NASA has worked with commercial companies before, the degree of responsibility given to private companies like SpaceX has risen considerably in recent years, according to Mariel Borowitz, a technology and space policy specialist and associate professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

"Private space launch companies have been around for a long time – Arianespace became the first commercial launch company in 1980, and Orbital Sciences, Lockheed, and Boeing have been involved in commercial launch activities since the 1990s," Dr. Borowitz tells The Christian Science Monitor in an email.

For the full article, read here.