The Defense Department late last month extended a policy permitting government agencies to use excess ballistic missile (XBM) assets to launch a payload into orbit on a case-by-case basis. Directive-Type Memorandum (DTM) 11-008, dated July 5, 2011, provides four conditions that government agencies must meet to launch payloads into space via XBMs: * It is cheaper for the government to use XBMs when compared to the cost of acquiring space transportation services from domestic commercial providers; * The payload being…