U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the June 28 failure of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket should not be used as “leverage” to buy more of the Russian rocket engines that power United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket.

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Mike Gruss is the chief content and strategy officer at SpaceNews. From 2013 to 2016 he was a senior reporter at SpaceNews covering military space. Previously, he was editor in chief of Sightline Media Group and worked as a reporter and columnist for...