So close! SpaceX almost landed a Falcon 9 lower stage vertically on an autonomous barge and they'll probably succeed soon
If it was written into a Cold War movie plot 40 years ago no one would buy it: for now, our ground to orbit launch capability is dependent in part on the good graces of former KGB megalomaniac Vladimir Putin and his shadowy Russian cronies. This includes both civilian
and DoD projects:
For a start, we depend on the Atlas V rocket, which carries many of our most important satellites and is powered by the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine. The fact that we rely on Russia, currently under sanctions for invading a sovereign nation, should reinforce the need for a change in our current course. [...]
The Ukraine crisis should have served as a wake-up call, highlighting the danger of dependence on Russia to launch national security satellites into space. And the United States should play no part in supporting the defense industry of a country that continues to abrogate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbors. Simply put, it is bad policy to rely on others for critical national security requirements, and worse policy when this reliance supports countries taking action in direct contradiction to U.S. national security interests.
There are companies
like SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and others, that on are on track to resolve the dependence issue with all US-built rockets. But getting those vehicles cleared can be a tedious, at
times plodding process demanding cooperation between government agencies -- with a legendary revolving door to the firms they work with -- and corporations that otherwise directly compete with one another in the high-stakes government contracting game.
Congress has it within their power to facilitate this transition. And while small bipartisan steps have been taken in that regard, our domestic launch capacity really needs more giant leaps to quickly clear the remaining hurdles.