In recent years the high cost of launching U.S. national security satellites, and what to do about it, has been a major bone of contention in the space community, pitting advocates of stabilizing the rocket-making industrial base through bulk buys from the current contractor against those who believe the introduction of competition is a better answer. In November, the U.S. Defense Department settled on an approach that appears to have mollified both camps while ensuring continued access to space for critical military and intelligence-gathering assets.
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