DocM Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Holy Moley.... So, if they roll the $1b launch capability payment into the per-launch cost of Atlas V and Delta IV that'll up the street price of a ULA launch $100 million a pop (based on 10 launches/year.) So now, when there's a competitively bid launch the Delta IV Heavy will cost about $550m vs. a $135m Falcon Heavy. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/25/us-usa-military-space-idUSKBN0ML2OB20150325 U.S. to modify launch capability deal for Lockheed-Boeing venture WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force must modify its annual "launch capability" contract with United Launch Alliance, to level the playing field for new competitors of the joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, senior U.S. Air Force and Pentagon officials told lawmakers on Wednesday. Air Force Space Command Commander General John Hyten said acquisition officials were working on a plan to phase out the infrastructure support contract in coming years. He cited changing market conditions, including the rise of a rival launch company and prospects for an increase in government satellite launches. He said the contract was initially put in place to protect "a very fragile industrial base" in the 2000s, when there were few U.S. government satellites being launched due to program delays, and commercial demand failed to materialize as expected. He said the contract made it impossible to have a fair competition, backing an argument often made by privately held Space Exploration Technologies. The company, also called SpaceX, hopes to be certified by June to compete for some satellite launches now carried out solely by ULA. "I don't think you can have a fair competition with that contract in place. There'll have to be a change," Hyten told the House Armed Services Committee's strategic forces subcommittee, noting that emergence of a new competitor changed the situation. Dyke Weatherington, acting deputy assistant defense secretary for space, strategic and intelligence systems, said some funding for launch infrastructure would likely be folded into the per-launch pricing for future contracts for launch services, instead of being awarded separately. Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, told the same subcommittee on March 17 that continuing the annual $1 billion contract to ULA would skew any future competition, and the Air Force would have to adjust its cost estimates to reflect the infrastructure support given to ULA. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, last year said the separate launch capability contract made it difficult for the Pentagon to determine an accurate price for an individual launch by ULA. ULA President Tory Bruno last week said the company was developing a more transparent pricing model for future launches. The U.S. Air Force said on Monday it was on track to certify SpaceX to launch U.S. military and spy satellites by June, with the final efforts focused on qualifying the second stage engine and structure of its Falcon 9 rocket. Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 ... and queue the 'Apocalypse Now' music, Mr. Bruno. Fear not, your Delta IV Heavy still has its' uses, for now. I suggest you get your missions lined up and locked in with that vehicle, though. That Falcon 9 Heavy is going to out-class and out-perform yours by a decent margin for 2/3 less money. And when the Falcon 9 BFR is ready ... hope you folks have an answer for it by then. SpaceX will be doing Lunar Shakedown testing with Dragon V2+ and assorted addons, doing regular Lunar dropoffs with the Astrobotics folks, AND of course there's the Lunar & ISS Habitat Checkouts with Bigelow Aerospace ... but you're welcome to step up. Competition is great for business. Consider yourselves challenged, ULA. You have four years before SpaceX beats you at your own game. Adapt or perish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsItPluggedIn Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I wonder how many people ULA are going to bribe to make this go away. It will be very interesting to watch what happens, if it is not removed or shared then we know that somebody's pockets got a bit heavier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 The Secretary of the Air Force's investigators report is fugly. The AF and Aerospace Inc. people who were doing the F9 cert were going so far as demanding SpaceX change their organizational flow chart, redesign F9 etc. - 400 changes in all and still counting. Then they lied to the Secretary, Congress and the public about their progress. Basically, they wanted to turn SpaceX into a ULA clone, depending on AF and Aerospace Inc. permission if they wanted to scratch their ass. That's what set off SpaceX and moved the Secretary to send in her investigators and trigger the reforms. Now they'll be certified as a company with running changes to launchers much easier and new launchers like FH and BFR won't need near as much work. For F9 this means the coming 30% performance upgrades will be far easier to clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Ohh, that's just plain dirty. And you can bet that a lot of money was being shelled out under the table for the process to be purposefully sabotaged like that. They need to be brought up on Contempt and Perjury charges, at minimum. Possibly even Industrial Espionage penalties if it hurts SpaceX's business and/or IP (which it likely has). The Air Force personnel who took part in that farce should likewise face disciplinary action, because if memory serves there are articles in the MCMJ (Military Code of Military Justice) about Military Ethics that all Military Personnel are required to abide by, Enlisted and Officers alike. Especially if they have screwed around with the Secretary of the Air Force like that?! Yikes. That's just asking for a Summary Court Martial and a RE-4 on your DD-214 when they finally do let your butt out of Levenworth. Yeah, they screwed up and got caught doing it. Justice on a big stick is soon to follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 I can hear it now, "We were just doing our jobs with due diligence" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Yeah, due diligence being kicked into action by anti-competitive interests. Watch closely who suddenly retires from their Air Force positions and "conveniently" accepts jobs with Aerospace Inc. Then we'll know who the cheese-eaters were that precipitated this injustice. It's a sure bet that the footprints will be washed away upon the shoreline. I'm glad it worked out, but it's another example of outright corruption and dirty tricks that keep up-and-coming companies (who are playing by the rules) from being part of the process. Makes you wonder what other sectors of Infrastructure this happens in (Highways and Power Grid, for instance). If SpaceX can get change to occur in the most locked-in and monolithic crowd of them all, maybe there's hope after all. Good grief, I'm starting to sound like the last few chapters of The Grinch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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