In sci.space.history Pat Flannery wrote:
Rick Jones wrote:
Isn't NorthropGrumman the only "major" US defense contractor
without a "serious" launch capability? One could see them
investing in SpaceX as a further fleshing-out of their Scaled
Composites purchase.

The speculation is that they will use the WhiteKnightTwo as a carrier
for some sort of rocket booster to carry a modest-sized (around 500
pound) satellite into orbit.
Scaled Composites makes the wing for the Pegasus launch vehicle, so
maybe they have something along those lines in mind.

(A working) Falcon would give them some nice "scale-up" I suppose.

rick jones
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