The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the U.S. government with a dual mission to protect consumers and promote competition across broad sectors of the economy. While not directly involved in manufacturing or launching space-related technologies, the FTC plays a role in the space industry by ensuring fair competition and preventing deceptive practices, including reviewing mergers and acquisitions. For example, the FTC has reviewed mergers of government launch service businesses and has acted to block acquisitions that could harm competition in the supply of missile propulsion systems. The FTC's work in consumer protection, antitrust enforcement, and regulation of emerging technologies like AI is relevant to the evolving commercial space sector.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
The Federal Trade Commission is beginning to investigate how traditional antitrust laws apply to orbital launch capacity.
Lockheed Martin attempted to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne in 2020 for $4,400,000,000 but that acquisition was blocked by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Lockheed Martin sought to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4,400,000,000 in December 2020, and that acquisition was blocked by the Federal Trade Commission.
Nearly two years earlier, Lockheed Martin sought to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne in a $4,400,000,000 bid that the Federal Trade Commission blocked.
The Federal Trade Commission blocked Lockheed Martin’s proposed $4,400,000,000 bid for Aerojet Rocketdyne last year.
The Federal Trade Commission sued in January 2022 to block Lockheed Martin’s planned acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne on grounds that the deal would create a monopoly for rocket and missile propulsion systems.
The Federal Trade Commission is weighing legal action against Northrop Grumman for alleged violations of the 2018 agreement that allowed Northrop to acquire Orbital ATK.
The Department of Defense’s 2022-02-15 report states that when a merger threatens DoD interests, DoD will support the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice in antitrust investigations and recommendations involving the defense industrial base.
The Federal Trade Commission voted 4-0 to seek an injunction to block the transaction on antitrust grounds.
The Federal Trade Commission’s 2022-01-25 complaint argued that without competitive pressure Lockheed Martin could raise the price the U.S. government pays while delivering lower quality and less innovation.
The Federal Trade Commission sued to block Lockheed Martin Corporation’s $4,400,000,000 proposed acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc.
The Federal Trade Commission blocked Lockheed Martin’s proposed $4,400,000,000 acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne on 2022-01-25.
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan expressed concerns on 2021-08-06 about vertical mergers in which corporations seek to acquire major suppliers.
The Federal Trade Commission approved Northrop Grumman’s acquisition of Orbital ATK in 2018 on the condition that Northrop make Orbital ATK solid rocket motors available to competitors on a non-discriminatory basis.
The Federal Trade Commission opened an investigative query into Northrop Grumman's June 2018 acquisition of Orbital ATK.
The Federal Trade Commission required Northrop Grumman to supply solid rocket motors to its competitors and to run its solid rocket motor business separately from its other businesses.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission cleared Northrop Grumman’s $7,800,000,000 purchase of Orbital ATK.