The US military seems to be getting nervous about the launch supply crunch

The US military is taking a proactive stance to bolster commercial launch companies, amid concerns that SpaceX's phased retirement of its Falcon rocket program could pose a national security risk. The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital (OSC), established in 2022, has recently extended financial assistance to two of SpaceX's competitors.

On October 26, the OSC announced a $150 million conditional loan to Stoke Space, and on Tuesday, it provided another $150 million loan to Rocket Lab. These two rocket companies were the first to receive significant support from the OSC, which has been actively lending hundreds of millions of dollars to firms developing vital national security technologies.

In addition to its loan spree in the space sector, the OSC also provided a $150 million loan to LeoLabs, a commercial satellite tracking company, for the production and deployment of radar units.