Second SpaceX Launch Disaster In 14 Months Hands Air Force, NASA A Big Headache (From Forbes)

The September 1 explosion of a Falcon 9 launch vehicle at Cape Canaveral will undoubtedly raise concern among customers about how reliable SpaceX’s main product offering is.  This is the second time in 14 months Falcon 9 has suffered a catastrophic loss.  SpaceX’s rival for military business, United Launch Alliance, has never had a similar event in ten years of operations.  That’s 110 launches without a mishap.  So now the Air Force has to be reflecting on the fact that SpaceX may soon be responsible for lofting vital national-security satellites into orbit.  And NASA has to be wondering about whether it really wants to put astronauts on a rocket that has blown up twice in 14 months.  Any way you look at it, this is a big setback for SpaceX, not to mention government efforts to bring more competition to the launch sector.  I have written a commentary for Forbes here.