A second bid was surprisingly entered into the Air Force’s first launch competition in almost a decade.
It was believed that only one company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), would bid for the Global Positioning System III-2 (GPS III-2) mission after incumbent United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced it would not bid on the mission for a variety of reasons. ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye on April 28 reiterated, once again, that the company did not bid for the GPS III-2 mission.
But the Defense Department, in its statement late April 27 announcing SpaceX received an $82.7 million firm fixed price contract, surprisingly said there were two bids. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (AFSMC) chief Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves told reporters April 28 you have to be certified for launch to be awarded a mission and that nothing precludes a company from submitting multiple bids.
SpaceX and ULA are currently the only two companies certified for national security launches. SpaceX didn’t return a request for comment by press time April 28.
The market for national security missions is about to get even more competitive. Greaves said both Orbital ATK [OA] and ULA have begun launch certification processes by submitting “statements of interest” for new launch vehicles. Greaves said ULA’s statement of interest was for its next-generation Vulcan launch vehicle.
Greaves said Orbital ATK’s certification process would be similar to the one SpaceX had to follow. He said Orbital ATK is “early” in the certification process.
Greaves said the $82.7 million awarded to SpaceX April 27 for one mission was about 40 percent cheaper than the government’s estimate, or roughly $138 million. He said DoD’s estimate was based on historical comparative prices paid for previous launches and other publicly available prices.
The Air Force, Greaves said, hopes to have the request for proposals (RFP) for its next Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) mission available by May or June “at the latest.” He said the service is gathering lessons learned and making recommendations to Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) Frank Kendall for the next draft RFP. Greaves also said the service will discuss with Kendall what its source selection criteria will be for the next mission. The GPS III-2 mission awarded to SpaceX was best value.
The first GPS III satellite launch mission, GPS III-1, was awarded to ULA as part of the Air Force’s 36 core block buy a few years ago. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA].