The Pentagon is eyeing the successful launch of Elon Musk’s Falcon Heavy rocket as a way to erode the monopoly that has held sway over US military space launches for the last dozen years.

SpaceX, the billionaire tech entrepreneur’s private space company, successfully returned two of three boosters used to fire its rocket into space back to earth on Tuesday, raising the prospect of cost savings that could enable the department of defence to take on riskier, cheaper launches as it seeks to defend space assets.

Deputy defence secretary Patrick Shanahan, who also became the Pentagon’s lead for space last month, hailed the launch as “encouraging” and pointed to it among latest efforts from commercial companies that are disrupting the launch market.