To give Lockheed some credit — their original goal was probably reliability over all else. In most cases their payloads are insanely expensive (ignoring opportu

To give Lockheed some credit — their original goal was probably reliability over all else. In most cases their payloads are insanely expensive (ignoring opportunity cost — how much is having a surveillance satellite in place when needed worth?) and saving money on the launch is a false economy. Now they're having the fat pulled out of their contract (i.e. the launches where reliability isn't paramount but the cost structures were already established). Whether SpaceX can establish itself as a mission critical alternative to ULA remains to be seen — 66 launches is no minor feat (but according to Wikipedia they have had at least TWO failed launches, is that 2/68 or 66 successes in a row or what?)