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"ULA Beat out SpaceX..."

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bxr140

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Nov 18, 2014
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Viasat books ULA Atlas 5 for a ViaSat-3 satellite launch - SpaceNews.com

Certainly there's a bit of journalistic flourish on that one. I think the article also implies that the payload is likely too big for a falcon 9.

Of course, from an operator standpoint it makes sense to diversify your supply chain, so this likely has a heavy dose of "no news here" to it. In the bigger picture, its actually good that commercial operators still find non-SpaceX launch providers viable alternatives--especially an American alternative (which have always been pretty cost prohibitive).

In related news: Eutelsat becomes first Ariane 6 commercial customer with five-satellite launch contract - SpaceNews.com
 
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Arianespace and SpaceX has said that ViaSat didn't even ask them about pricing or call them.

Also, it was not surprising that Eutelsat went with Ariane.

Gwynne Shotwell's response to a question about this was that SpaceX is getting more military launches and more into the people carrying business. She noted that there are 7 billion or more people on Planet Earth.