SpaceX could win in court, but can it beat the pentagon's procurement culture?

• Position: Form the National Defense Blog

While SpaceX continues to fight a legal battle to gain access to the military rocket launch market, it remains in doubt whether the company's commercial business model can coexist with the Pentagon's highly regulated procurement system.

Rocket manufacturer Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, is suing the U.S. government for the opportunity to challenge the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of The Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin that has had a near monopoly on military and intelligence agency satellite launches for more than a decade.

Although Defense Department officials made it clear they dislike being sued, they insist it has been their plan all along to open up the market to newcomers, especially now that budgets are coming down...