Eight senators Tuesday asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to review the Air Force’s decision to reduce the number of competed Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) missions from 14 to seven during the fiscal years 2015 to 2017 timeframe.
“We strongly believe this proposal undermines the Air Force’s previous plan to begin (competing) launches in 2015 and urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure the Air Force fulfills its commitment to provide meaningful competition opportunities this year for award in fiscal year 2015 and beyond,” the senators said in a letter signed by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
The letter said the Air Force in its FY ’15 budget request did not include plans to compete EELV missions in 2015 and, instead, planned to reduce the total number of missions to be competed from FY ’15 to ’17. The senators said they believe this action does not comply with a 2012 acquisition decision memorandum issued by Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) Frank Kendall, which instructs the Air Force to “aggressively introduce a competitive procurement environment” for EELV and identify “up to 14 missions that should be competed as early as 2015.”
The senators said that new entrants to the EELV program may be certified this year, and if there is more than one certified provider capable of executing any Air Force launch, those missions should be competed. United Launch Alliance (ULA) is the incumbent provider of national security space launches. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is in the process of certification for EELV launches. It has a launch scheduled for Thursday that could be part of the certification process for national security launches.
The Air Force, citing the health of its Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation, is pushing five next-generation GPS III launch missions past FY ’17 and delaying two other missions. These five GPS III missions will still be competed, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Director of Space Programs, Maj. Gen. Robert McMurry, told reporters last month. Of the other two non-GPS III missions, McMurry said, one given back to ULA will not be competed. The other will still be competed, though McMurry didn’t specify when. The Air Force said in its budget request it wanted to defer two GPS III satellites beyond FY ’19 (Defense Daily, March 18).
Air Force Secretary Deborah James Wednesday defended the plan to delay competed launches in front of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee (SAC-D). James said the Air Force plans to have competition for all launches by 2017. James said the Air Force hopes new entrants will be certified for “lighter” EELV launches by the end of 2014, but that under the service’s own scenario, new entrants won’t be qualified for “heavier” EELV missions until 2017. The GPS satellites are characterized as “lighter” launches and can be launched with Atlas V-level launch vehicles while “heavy” satellites like spy satellites produced by the National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO), require more-capable rockets. ULA last August launched the NRO’s NROL-65 satellite using its Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle.
James told reporters after the hearing the Air Force is not skittish on allowing new entrants to launch national security satellites.
“New entrants are building a different form of a track record through the qualification process,” she said. “So I won’t be skittish, let’s put it that way. I won’t be. We just need to get them qualified.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said during the hearing he and SAC-D Chairman Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) would ensure the Air Force is not reducing competition to EELV but instead simply reducing the number of launches necessary in the upcoming years.
The Air Force is also reviewing if it has enough spare parts for its two-year supply of the Russian-made RD-180 first stage rocket engine, James said Wednesday. The Air Force is performing a review, which should wrap up by the end of May, into the feasibility of producing the RD-180 in the United States. ULA uses the RD-180 in its Atlas V launch vehicle, which is often used for EELV missions. Uneasiness over the United States relying on a key Russian-made component for critical national security capabilities has raised renewed questions on Capitol Hill following the crisis between Ukraine and Russia.
SpaceX said Wednesday in a statement the bipartisan letter points out the need for greater competition in the EELV program. The company also said increasing fair competition in the EELV program is a smart decision that would not only improve efficiency and optimize budgets, but would also eliminate U.S. reliance on the RD-180, which SpaceX said is a direct threat to our nation’s security.
ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye said Wednesday the Air Force has pursued a block buy for national security space launches that would allow for lowest possible cost while still providing proven systems with 100 percent mission success. Rye said the Air Force has stated this new block buy saved DoD more than $4.4 billion. ULA, Rye said, continues to be the safest, and most reliable, launch provider with more than 75 safe launches with a 100 percent success rate.
Air Force Under Secretary Eric Fanning said recently the service was performing a “business case analysis” of how much it would cost to produce the RD-180 in the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told reporters last week the Air Force, which is part of DoD’s study into the RD-180, said it would probably take roughly $1 billion and five years to develop and produce an alternative engine. The RD-180 is developed by NPO Energomash and is distributed in the United States by RD AMROSS, a joint venture of NPO Energomash and United Technologies Corp.– [UTX] division Pratt & Whitney.
ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA].