Aerojet Bids About $2 Billion for [ULA] Boeing-Lockheed Rocket Venture

[DocM]

If they can't get their AR-1 engine into Vulcan one way, they'll do it another. That, or they'll kill Vulcan and press on with a re-engined AR-1 powered Atlas V derivative, which Could take longer than Vulcan (estimates are +2 years.) Could leave Blue Origin  holding the bag WRT BE-3 & BE-4.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/aerojet-bids-about-2-billion-for-boeing-lockheed-martin-rocket-joint-venture-1441752151/

Aerojet Bids About $2 Billion for Boeing-Lockheed Rocket Venture

Possible deal stemming from all-cash offer could be announced as early as next week

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. has bid about $2 billion for United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. struggling to maintain its position as the premier supplier of rockets to the Pentagon, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The two sides are in advanced talks about what one of these people described as an all-cash offer. A deal hasn’t been finalized, and could be derailed by last-minute hurdles. Any such deal would be subject to close analysis by Pentagon officials, the people said.

But, if everything falls into place, one of them said, an announcement could come as early as next week.

United Launch, a 50-50 joint venture, was formed about a decade ago in a controversial deal that merged management of the Pentagon’s two primary families of rockets and gave the new entity a virtual monopoly on launching big military and spy satellites into orbit. In exchange, the Pentagon sought assured access to space.

Industry officials said the potential deal now under discussion would be likely to invigorate United Launch by providing more unified leadership at the top, and perhaps a better way to fund the venture’s ambitious plans to develop, test and deploy a new fleet of all-domestic rockets.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Sounds like a "hail Mary" to save themselves.......Blue origin must be at a phase that has worried them, with a decision about to come down the pipes for engine selection for all of ULA's funding.

This is outright silly know....Congress critters trying to tie up SpaceX....for a prior monopolistic amalgamation......presently with old rockets.....and no idea of which re-engine status to go with....and a new rocket design, years out, to boot.........to be sold for cash........to new leadership.......and will probably not require any kind of recertification ........... but SpaceX is being questioned for being in existence...........I'll get my lawn chair...........this ought to be good........ 

[DocM]

Yup. Time to break out the popcorn & Mexican beer.

[Beittil]

Quite an insane development! Holy sh*t... If this falls through then the Vulcan will get shafted, BO will lose a client for its BE-4! And it is not unlikely either, LM en Boeing don't seem at all thrilled by a new launcher anyway with their quarter by quarter budget approvals only!

[Unobscured Vision]

Can't say we didn't see something like this coming. Sell out or failure. I'll watch with interest.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Can't say we didn't see something like this coming. Sell out or failure. I'll watch with interest.

The "Sell out or failure", from companies who don't think long term and "ride the gravy trains". These companies are incapable of a decade, or more, of extreme financial risk, when working towards a rewarding vision.....If you have shareholders....No Long Term Visions....gets in the way of greed. It is my opinion, that only private owner/operators are capable of risky, decade long development, and when these developments are rolling, the only competition will be other similar minded venturists. ......Lean, Green, Adventure Machines......Welcome to newspace...........way too much fun...is it legal......hahh!........

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Ancillary articles....

Aerojet Rocketdyne Makes $2B Offer for United Launch Alliance

 

WASHINGTON – Rocket engine maker Aerojet Rocketdyne has offered to buy launch services provider United Launch Alliance from Lockheed Martin and Boeing for at least $2 billion, an industry source told SpaceNews Sept. 8.

The unsolicited bid is the latest twist in what has been a topsy-turvy year for ULA, the primary U.S. government launch services provider.

The proposal is still in discussion, but an announcement could come as early as the week of Sept. 14 at the annual U.S. Air Force Association conference, to be held at National Harbor, Maryland, the source said.

 

 

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s bid starts at $2 billion, but could go higher after the company does its due diligence, the source said.

Denver-based ULA operates and owns the production rights for the Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets, which together launch the vast majority of U.S. government payloads. The Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture, established in 2006, also owns a rocket production plant in Decatur, Alabama, and launch infrastructure at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

ULA faces an uncertain future owing to a congressional ban on the Russian-built RD-180 engine that powers its workhorse, the Atlas 5, and a competitive challenge in its government market from upstart SpaceX. Congress appears willing to fund a U.S.-built RD-180 replacement, and Aerojet Rocketdyne is developing one called the AR-1, but ULA last September announced plans to use an alternative built by the secretive Blue Origin rocket company owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.

Kent, Washington-based Blue Origin’s planned BE-4 uses a different type of fuel than the RD-180 and as such cannot be retrofitted into the current Atlas 5 design.    ULA, which plans to phase out all but the largest variants of the high-priced Delta 4, in April unveiled a new rocket design called Vulcan that accommodates the BE-4. The new vehicle, to debut around 2020, would essentially be an Atlas 5  outfitted with a new, larger first stage, at least in its initial incarnation.

But Boeing and Lockheed Martin, who control ULA’s purse strings, have yet to agree to invest the roughly $1 billion that ULA says it needs to develop the Vulcan. Blue Origin is funding development of the BE-4, also to the tune of about $1 billion, ULA says.

Spokesmen for Sacramento, California-based Aerojet Rocketdyne and Lockheed Martin declined to comment. Jessica Rye, a spokeswoman for ULA, referred questions to Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

In May, a consortium of three companies including Aerojet Rocketdyne asked the U.S. Department of Defense about the possibility of obtaining production rights to  the Atlas 5. ULA rebuffed that overture.

A purchase of ULA, if approved by the parent companies and the government, would be a dramatic turnaround for Aerojet Rocketdyne, which was stung by ULA’s decision to go with the BE-4 over the AR-1. ULA continues to fund work on the AR-1, but views that engine as a backup in case Blue Origin falters in its engine effort.

 http://spacenews.com/aerojet-makes-2-billion-offer-for-united-launch-alliance-sources/

Here are a good couple of questions.......

ULA, The Four Amigos, and The Future of Competition in Space Commerce

http://nasawatch.com/archives/2015/09/ula-the-four-am.html

 Keith's note: But Aerojet Rocketdyne will not own Boeing's or Lockheed Martin's rockets, will they? This is like buying a travel booking agency - not an airline - or a manufacturer. Can Aerojet Rocketdyne really expect to turn a multi-billion dollar profit selling someone else's rockets? And if they are getting Boeing and Lockheed Martin's rocket factories as part of the offer - is $2 billion even a real number? There seems to be a zero missing. Or are these companies really that uncertain of making a profit from commercial launch vehicles that they want to walk away from a half century of launching rockets for pennies on the dollar?

But wait: the same Aerojet Rocketdyne/Boeing/Lockheed Martin/Orbital ATK crowd (aka "The Four Amigos" in industry circles) is also building SLS - and ULA was always a sanctioned monopoly (until SpaceX showed up and spoiled that party). Everyone seems to be hedging their bets these days via acquisitions and consolidations - instead of trying to build newer and better rockets that actually do things more cheaply/efficiently - except SpaceX, I guess. Wait ... there's more: Blue Origin has an engine agreement deal with ULA. Jeff Bezos likes to buy things.

I smell an anti-trust lawsuit in the distance and/or a tech giant free for all. Or both. And if you thought that the previous congressional hearings on the whole ULA/SpaceX thing were fun ...

Stay tuned.

 

Later......... 

[Unobscured Vision]

Agreed. It's like someone buying Cheap Tickets.biz or something. ULA is a "Booking Company" ... in other words, a "Shell Company" that the partner corporations can funnel through to do business -- and in tough times, write losses off to. It's a standard business practice with large multi-conglomerates like this. Banks do it a lot. Ever wonder why a bank is one thing, then suddenly it's another name and logo and such but it retains (or shuffles around) the employees? It's for tax and other legal purposes as part of Corporate Operations but the effective control of that branch remains largely unchanged.

Ladies and Gentlemen, what we have here is a similar scenario. ULA has an offer of buyout from a company that does a great deal of business with Lockheed and Boeing. It could even be another joint venture, for all we know. But watch what happens internally after the transaction takes place -- we'll see the familiar names still largely running the show.

It's a big shuffle job to shake the numbers out of the books, and it's a safe bet that Lockheed and Boeing are attempting to write off some losses internally that they need to clear through ULA and this transaction.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Aerojet Rocketdyne Hires Former Boeing Exec Simpson

 

WASHINGTON — Rocket propulsion provider Aerojet Rocketdyne announced Sept. 9 that it has hired former Boeing executive Jim Simpson as its new senior vice president of strategy and business development, effective Sept. 21.

Simpson worked at Boeing for 35 years, most recently in a similar position in Boeing’s Network and Space Systems unit.

In his new role at Sacramento, California-based Aerojet Rocketdyne, Simpson will be responsible for capturing new business and “strategic alignment initiatives,” the company said in a press release.

 

 

Simpson’s arrival comes at a pivotal time for Aerojet Rocketdyne, which, following a series of acquisitions, most recently of Pratt & Whitney’s space propulsion business, is the traditional dominant U.S. supplier of large liquid-fueled rocket engines. Prior to that acquisition Pratt & Whitney’s portfolio had shrunk considerably with the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle.

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s current business includes the main engine for United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4 rocket and upper-stage engines for both that vehicle and ULA’s other rocket, the Atlas 5. The company is developing a new main engine that it hopes will replace the Atlas 5’s Russian-built main engine, now the subject of a congressional ban, but ULA is pursuing a rocket that would use an entirely different engine made by Blue Origin of Kent, Washington.

Earlier this year Aerojet Rocketdyne inquired about the possibility of obtaining the production rights to the Atlas 5 but was rebuffed by Denver-based ULA. Now, according to industry sources, Aerojet Rocketdyne is trying to buy ULA, the U.S. government’s incumbent launch services provider, from parent companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

 http://spacenews.com/aerojet-rocketdyne-hires-former-boeing-exec-simpson/

.......................

[Unobscured Vision]

Mmm hmm. Yep. Consolidation and shuffling.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Here are 2 articles that kind of flew under the radar...

Aerojet Rocketdyne Breaks Ground on Arkansas Facility Expansion

Press Release From: Aerojet Rocketdyne 
Posted: Thursday, September 10, 2015

 

Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE: AJRD) today hosted a groundbreaking ceremony attended by nearly 200 people including Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, other state and local dignitaries, company leaders and employees, to celebrate the company's planned expansion that will bring new programs and 85 jobs to the Camden facility.

The company's capital investment for new buildings and renovations on the 1,200-acre site was supported through state and local incentives that included funding, job investment and creation programs, tax exemptions, real estate tax grants and training reimbursements. The collaboration included the State of Arkansas, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Calhoun County, Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development and the Camden Area Chamber of Commerce.

"I'm proud that, for more than 35 years, our Arkansas facility has manufactured solid rocket motors that are critical to the defense of our nation and that of our allies around the world," said Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen Drake. "We are delighted to be able to expand our capabilities and workforce here and grateful for the way that Governor Hutchinson and local leaders have welcomed our growth. This expansion is pivotal to the success of the Competitive Improvement Program we announced in March that is strengthening our position in the aerospace and defense industry."

"It was a pleasure to meet with Aerojet Rocketdyne's leaders during our recent business recruitment trip to the Paris Air Show," said Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. "They were one of many companies with whom we fostered relationships in Europe. We appreciate the commitment Aerojet Rocketdyne made to expand in Arkansas in this meeting. These jobs will have a significant impact on the economy of southern Arkansas for years to come."

Today's ceremony also included a dedication of the 12-megawatt solar field currently under construction by Silicon Ranch Corporation on approximately 100 acres of adjacent land in Highland Industrial Park, in the city of East Camden.

Through a unique contract, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation, Ouachita Electric Cooperative Corporation and Southern Arkansas University Tech collaborated to bring the first, large-scale solar project to Arkansas. Once complete, the facility will not only provide clean energy for Aerojet Rocketdyne operations, it will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 2,400 single-family homes.

"This solar project is a key part of Aerojet Rocketdyne's commitment to operate all our sites in a sustainable manner," said Drake. "Working with our solar partners represented here today we are helping bring the state's largest solar field to life in order to provide a clean alternative energy source for our electricity needs and those of neighboring businesses and residences."

Aerojet Rocketdyne is an innovative company delivering solutions that create value for its customers in the aerospace and defense markets. The company is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader that provides propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, tactical systems and armaments areas, in support of domestic and international markets. Additional information about Aerojet Rocketdyne can be obtained by visiting our websites at www.Rocket.com and www.AerojetRocketdyne.com.

 

// end //

 http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=46807

The this one......

ULA and Blue Origin Announce Production Agreement for American-Made BE-4 Engine

Press Release From: Blue Origin 
Posted: Thursday, September 10, 2015

 

United Launch Alliance (ULA), the nation’s premier space launch company, and Blue Origin, LLC, a privately-funded aerospace company owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, announced today the signing of an agreement to expand production capabilities for the American-made BE-4 engine that will power the Vulcan next generation launch system.

The BE-4 engine offers the fastest path to a domestic alternative to the Russian RD-180. Development is on schedule to achieve qualification for flight in 2017 to support the first Vulcan flight in 2019.

“This agreement gets us closer to having an affordable, domestic and innovative engine that will help the Vulcan rocket exceed the capability of the Atlas V on its first flight and open brand new opportunities for the nation’s use of space,” said Tory Bruno, president and chief executive officer of ULA. “This partnership enables each company to leverage its strengths, with ULA bringing production excellence and mission assurance, and Blue Origin bringing innovative engineering concepts and a commitment to lowering the cost of spaceflight.”

“The BE-4 engine test program is well underway with more than 60 staged-combustion tests already on the books,” said Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin. “This new agreement is an important step toward building BE-4s at the production rate needed for the Vulcan launch vehicle.”

The Vulcan Rocket brings together decades of experience on ULA’s reliable Atlas and Delta vehicles, combining the best features of each to produce an all-new, American-made rocket that will enable mission success from low Earth orbit all the way to Pluto. 

The BE-4 is a liquid oxygen, liquefied natural gas (LNG) rocket engine that delivers 550,000-lbf of thrust at sea level. Two BE-4s would power each ULA Vulcan booster, providing 1,100,000-lbf thrust at liftoff. ULA is teaming in the development of the BE-4 to enable availability for national security, civil, human and commercial missions. Development of the BE-4 engine has been underway for more than three years and testing of the BE-4 components is ongoing at Blue Origin’s test facilities in West Texas. 

About United Launch Alliance 
With more than a century of combined heritage, United Launch Alliance is the nation’s most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has successfully delivered more than 95 satellites to orbit that provide critical capabilities for troops in the field, aid meteorologists in tracking severe weather, enable personal device-based GPS navigation and unlock the mysteries of our solar system.

For more information on ULA, visit the ULA website at www.ulalaunch.com. Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch, twitter.com/ulalaunch, and instagram.com/ulalaunch.

About Blue Origin
Blue Origin, LLC (Blue Origin) is a private company developing vehicles and technologies to enable commercial human space transportation. Blue Origin has a long-term vision of greatly increasing the number of people that fly into space so that we humans can better continue exploring the solar system. For more information and a list of job openings, please visit us at www.blueorigin.com.

 

// end //

 http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=46804

Blue Origin signs production agreement with ULA...meaning AR pretty much an emergency alternative now. Beginning to make sense, AR really wanted that contract.....only option now, is to buy out ULA and deal with Blue origin lawsuit later.......mmmmmm........

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Just a confirmation article......

United Launch Alliance Picks US Rocket Engine Over Rival Russian One

The US United Launch Alliance (ULA) and the Blue Origin company have signed a production deal that derails plans to provide a Russian engine for the US next-generation Vulcan booster rocket.

"ULA and Blue Origin LLC announced [on Thursday] the signing of an agreement to expand production capabilities for the American-made BE-4engine that will power the Vulcan next generation launch system," the two companies stated in a press release.

Blue Origin is a privately-funded aerospace company owned byAmazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post newspaper.

 

"The BE-4 engine offers the fastest path to a domestic alternative to the Russian RD-180," the release said.

Development is on schedule to achieve qualification for flight in 2017 to support the first Vulcan flight in 2019, the press release added.

"This agreement gets us closer to having an affordable, domestic and innovative engine that will help the Vulcan rocket exceed the capability of the Atlas V on its first flight and open brand new opportunities for the nation's use of space," ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno said in the press release.

Bruno claimed Blue Origin would introduce innovative engineering concepts that could lower the cost of spaceflight.

"The BE-4 engine test program is well underway with more than 60 staged-combustion tests already on the books," Blue Origin-founder Bezos said in the press release. "This new agreement is an important step toward building BE-4s at the production rate needed for the Vulcan launch vehicle."

The BE-4 is a liquid oxygen, liquefied natural gas rocket engine that delivers 550,000-lbf of thrust at sea level. Two BE-4s would power each ULA Vulcan booster, providing 1,100,000-lbf thrust at liftoff, according to the press release.

ULA has successfully delivered more than 95 satellites to orbit.

 

 http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/United_Launch_Alliance_Picks_US_Rocket_Engine_Over_Rival_Russian_One_999.html

Test results must have been great....Blue Origin being very secretive...as is SpaceX...... with their gas units....

[DocM]

BO posted a video not long ago of a test burn, but judging by its apparent plume size etc. it looked like a test of the BE-4 power pack; turbopump, injectors and prevent, not the full engine. Adding the chamber, nozzle, nozzle extension etc. isn't exactly simple as it takes awhile to hash through combustion instabilities, throttling issues (which can make you rework parts of the power pack) etc. Lots of feedback loops.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

BO posted a video not long ago of a test burn, but judging by its apparent plume size etc. it looked like a test of the BE-4 power pack; turbopump, injectors and prevent, not the full engine. Adding the chamber, nozzle, nozzle extension etc. isn't exactly simple as it takes awhile to hash through combustion instabilities, throttling issues (which can make you rework parts of the power pack) etc. Lots of feedback loops.

I am assuming that the gas units are going to be real game changers. If this is the case, this is the "typical lazy man approach" for ULA, by buying your way to leading edge technology. ULA would have had independents verifying BO's design progress, before they jumped in with two feet. AR would also have had their people checking on ULA's decision process as well as BO's. This may have caused the buyout proposal, to stave off future mediocrity. As well, BO, ULA and AR must have heard some insider musings about SpaceX's progress. This would create the "secrecy game" for both camps, to not let details out of the bag, and catch the "other guy" off guard near release. All I will say, in my opinion, if anyone is thinking that they are going to technologically beat SpaceX over one engine design, is sadly mistaken......They will need a vision change to compete with SpaceX.

[DocM]

BE-4 is a standard oxygen rich staged combustion engine with a single shaft turbopump, meaning it has shaft interseals between the methane and LOX sides which can fail. This can make for a bad day.

Raptor is a full flow staged combustion engine with two seaparat.turbopumps and no common shaft, and therefore no shaft federal, and allows Raptor's pumps to run at different speeds. Raptor also pumps hot gases to the chamber not liquids, reducing stresses on the turbopumps. It's a more efficient cycle never flown before, though both Russia and the US have worked on it.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

BE-4 is a standard oxygen rich staged combustion engine with a single shaft turbopump, meaning it has shaft interseals between the methane and LOX sides which can fail. This can make for a bad day.

Raptor is a full flow staged combustion engine with two seaparat.turbopumps and no common shaft, and therefore no shaft federal, and allows Raptor's pumps to run at different speeds. Raptor also pumps hot gases to the chamber not liquids, reducing stresses on the turbopumps. It's a more efficient cycle never flown before, though both Russia and the US have worked on it.

Thank's for explaining the difference. It seems that they can afford the time, in this case, for a game changing engine which hopefully displays reliability traits. Makes more sense now..........to not have given up on it, says a lot, and the best move SpaceX has done......Not using the patent process, which from my experience, is a degraded system which gives your "hard won" idea's to others so they can plunder it. Now I can see why there is so much excitement around this particular engine.........

[DocM]

Appologies for the misspellings I didn't catch. This new autospellchecker is going to get fired soon. In paragraph 2 federal = interseal.

The reduced stresses from pumping gases translates not only potentially increased reliability but reusability. Basically, one pump pushes a fuel rich blistering hot gas and the other an oxygen rich blistering hot gas. They meet in the chamber and it's party time. Full Flow Staged Combustion could be a game changer.

 

[Unobscured Vision]

Appologies for the misspellings I didn't catch. This new autospellchecker is going to get fired soon. In paragraph 2 federal = interseal.

The reduced stresses from pumping gases translates not only potentially increased reliability but reusability. Basically, one pump pushes a fuel rich blistering hot gas and the other an oxygen rich blistering hot gas. They meet in the chamber and it's party time. Full Flow Staged Combustion could be a game changer.

 

And the fireworks coming out of the business end are going to be unlike anything ever seen before. Not even Apollo/Saturn V could match it for sheer brutality, pound-for-pound. Game changer is right.  We've seen the concept for the BFR during launch, using pretty much uprated versions of these same engines ... gonna need Nuclear Test Goggles just to look at that sheer display of power, else it'll burn your retinae clear to the optic nerve ... and that might not be an exaggeration, folks. It'll be vulgar to look at (and that's a good thing).

[DocM]

The word is that Dynetics is part of the Aerojet-ULA deal. They've recently worked with Aerojet on a modernised F-1 engine (see Saturn V) for use in a proposed liquid side booster for SLS.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Two Top Boeing Execs Dismiss Aerojet’s ULA Bid

 

WASHINGTON — Two senior Boeing executives, speaking Sept. 16 at conferences on separate continents, said the company is not seriously considering Aerojet Rocketdyne Holding’s $2 billion offer for United Launch Alliance, the government launch contractor Boeing jointly owns with Lockheed Martin.

“ULA is a huge part of our strategic portfolio going forward along with our satellites and manned space business. This bid we’ve really not spent much time on it at all because we’re focusing on a totally different direction,” Chris Chadwick, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Defense, Space & Security told reporters Sept. 16 at the Air Force Association’s annual technology expo in National Harbor, Maryland.

 

Craig Cooning, president of Boeing Network and Space Systems, speaking in Paris at Euroconsult’s World Satellite Business Week conference, made similar remarks Sept. 16, saying ULA’s parent companies aren’t taking the bid seriously.

 

 

Chadwick told reporters Boeing is giving “no serious consideration” to Aerojet Rocketdyne’s offer, news of which broke Sept. 8. Aerojet, Boeing, Lockheed, and ULA  officials  previously had declined to confirm that an offer had been made for Centennial, Colorado-based ULA.

“It’s not even in our expanse of thought in this period of time,” Chadwick said. “Ninety-nine consecutive launches without an incident. We’re the best in industry. Others are trying to obtain the record we have. We’re focusing on the customer.”

Chadwick said ULA’s focus remains on developing Vulcan, an Atlas 5 successor that would be powered by Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine.

“You saw our announcement with Blue Origin and that’s the path we’re going to move down,” Chadwick said. “We think we have a real good competitive position and we’re committed to the longterm.”

 

 

http://spacenews.com/two-top-boeing-executives-dismiss-aerojets-ula-bid/

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Aerojet Rocketdyne Ties AR1 Schedule to Pentagon Funding 

AR-1 twin booster engine configuration. Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Development of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s new engine could be delayed without sufficient government funding, company executives said here Sept. 15.

Julie Van Kleeck, Aerojet Rocketdyne’s vice president for space and launch, said work on the AR1 engine is on track to have the engine certified by 2019, but that work could be delayed if the company does not win enough money in contracts the Air Force expects to award late this year.

Congress has given the U.S. Air Force a 2019 deadline for fielding an American-made propulsion system capable of ending the Defense Department’s dependence on the Russian-made RD-180 engine that powers United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket.

 

To that end, the Air Force is expected to award as many as four contracts in the coming weeks worth a combined $160 million for new prototype rocket propulsions systems.

These awards, Van Kleeck said during a press conference during the annual Air Force Association technology expo here, “will show how serious they are about 2019.”

Aerojet Rocketdyne is developing the AR1 as a replacement for RD-180 main stage engine. While United Launch Alliance is supporting AR1 development, ULA has indicated that Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine is the leading candidate to replace the RD-180 and power Vulcan, ULA’s proposed Atlas 5 successor.

Meanwhile, Aerojet Rocketdyne officials declined to comment on reports about its $2 billion bid for ULA. It is widely assumed Aerojet Rocketdyne would drop the BE-4 for AR1 if it were to acquire ULA from Boeing and Lockheed Martin, ULA’s parent companies.

 

 

 http://spacenews.com/aerojet-rocketdyne-ties-ar1-schedule-to-pentagon-awards/

The Russian-designed and -built RD-180 rocket engine is key to the United States' interests in space. Credit: NASA

http://spacenews.com/op-ed-national-security-in-space-a-critical-imperative/

[Unobscured Vision]

*really* ...  ... okee dokey.

Something's up with that. I retract my earlier theory and now throw my arms up in the air and say "I dunno".

And yes, that's my shocked face.

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

*really* ...  ... okee dokey.

Something's up with that. I retract my earlier theory and now throw my arms up in the air and say "I dunno".

And yes, that's my shocked face.

 

And you guys know more than me, about this....I have no idea about this smozzle now....... 

[Unobscured Vision]

WE don't even know, now. Completely at a loss to forecast what will happen next.

[DocM]

Toughts & possibilities

1) NO ONE thinks Aerojet-Rocketdyne can make 2019 with the AR-1, which is why ULA chose Blue's BE-4.

2) its possible $2B isn't enough and they're maneuveeing for a higher bid.

3) OTOH, its possible they genuinely don't want to sell and are willing to bet the ULA bank on Blue's BE-4 arriving on time.

4) people wonder why Aerojet-Rocketdyne isn't producing a US made RD-180. After all, RD AMROSS has a license to do so, and it's partners were Energiya and United Technologies Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne division. The problem is that when Rocketdyne was sold off to Aerojet's parent GenCorp in 2012 the RD-180 rights stayed with United Technologies.

5) Bezos said in his recent presser that Blue Origin has no interest in DoD launches because their focus is human spaceflight (and likely commercial lsunches.) The subtext seems to be that this avoids USAF and Congressional headaches. 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Toughts & possibilities

1) NO ONE thinks Aerojet-Rocketdyne can make 2019 with the AR-1, which is why ULA chose Blue's BE-4.

2) its possible $2B isn't enough and they're maneuveeing for a higher bid.

3) OTOH, its possible they genuinely don't want to sell and are willing to bet the ULA bank on Blue's BE-4 arriving on time.

4) people wonder why Aerojet-Rocketdyne isn't producing a US made RD-180. After all, RD AMROSS has a license to do so, and it's partners were Energiya and United Technologies Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne division. The problem is that when Rocketdyne was sold off to Aerojet's parent GenCorp in 2012 the RD-180 rights stayed with United Technologies.

5) Bezos said in his recent presser that Blue Origin has no interest in DoD launches because their focus is human spaceflight (and likely commercial lsunches.) The subtext seems to be that this avoids USAF and Congressional headaches. 

well said....

Nasawatch had a recent blurb where they thought the price was out of wack.........Bezos had a polite way of saying that he want's no part of the bull droppings that SpaceX has to put up with, and I think that is a smart move, no hindrance.........4) is a facepalm......overall, I think you are right about the bid rejection being too low. They must be playing poker for a higher price to unload the division, due to reduced future income as a consequence of reduced launches and having to be competitive with SpaceX, unless legislation guarantees a set minimum income for development and research paydown. I don't know the company as well as you guys, but my instinct says they bail due to the "income" being a "bother" to "work for"......thanks for the info...helps a lot.