SpaceX’s prices are so low that they could upend the price structure the Air Force has used in sending military satellites into orbit. “What we do know is that if you look at a SpaceX heavy launcher like a Falcon 9 or a Falcon heavy, it’s at least 50 percent cheaper than a comparable vehicle by Boeing or Lockheed,” said Marco Caceres, senior analyst at the Teal Group Corp. in Fairfax, Va. “We’re talking at least $50 million cheaper per vehicle so it’s a significant cost saving for the Air Force.”

But SpaceX’s success could reshape the way the entire globe accesses space. “There is no pressure for the Europeans, Chinese, or Russians to bring down their launch costs because they can get whatever they charge,” says Marco Caceres, analyst with the Teal Group, told the magazine. “But now that you’ve got SpaceX, that’s the key to putting downward pressure on the prices. And you should start to see launch costs gradually come down. To me that’s going to be their biggest contribution to the industry.”

NASA may not be able to award the lease until the U.S. Government Accountability Office weighs in. Blue Origin this month protested NASA’s solicitation with the federal arbitrator of contract disputes. The GAO has until Dec. 12 to issue its decision. Even if both companies agree to share the launch pad, the winner of the lease has control. “If you own that lease, then you can decide when you allow somebody else to use it,” said Marco Caceres, a senior space analyst for Fairfax, Virginia-based Teal Group. “You have control over when you launch instead of taking what is provided by another company when they choose to give it.”

“The two companies I think are extremely well-positioned for the future are Arianespace and SpaceX,” says Marco Caceres, an aerospace analyst with the Teal Group. “They are the ones who are the most diversified and have the best pricing.” SpaceX offers $160 million launches, about $100 million less than those of Arianespace and ULA.