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Commercialization

SpaceX Snatches X-37B Contract from ULA

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
June 6, 2017
Filed under , ,
SpaceX Snatches X-37B Contract from ULA

SpaceX Wins Launch of U.S. Air Force X-37B Space Plane, Reuters
“Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp will fly its first mission for the U.S. Air Force in August when it launches the military’s X-37B miniature spaceplane, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said on Tuesday. Four previous X-37B missions were launched by United LaunchAlliance Atlas 5 rockets. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co . “SpaceX will be sending the next Air Force payload up into space in August,” Wilson said during webcast testimony before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. She later specified that the payload would be one of the Air Force’s two X-37Bspaceplanes.”

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22 responses to “SpaceX Snatches X-37B Contract from ULA”

  1. John from Ohio says:
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    That sound you just heard was the retirement plans of a bunch of O6s going splat.

  2. Mark Thompson says:
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    Pretty shocking considering X-37B is a Boeing product. But presumably the Air Force wants to ensure guaranteed access to space in the event of an Atlas failure and standdown. Should be interesting to see the Boeing folks working with the Spacex folks given the different cultures, but I am sure both teams are professionals. Should be some culture shock, but also some good learning and exposure to different ways of doing things. The manned capsules in development are also supposed to be launch vehicle agnostic I believe, for the same reason. Will be interesting one day to see a Dragon on an Atlas and a Starliner on a Falcon. That then begs the question about Orion on Falcon Heavy, especially if SLS continues to slide later and later and cost more and more.

    • Bob Mahoney says:
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      launch vehicle agnostic? Would not launch vehicle impartial be a better fit to the sense you mean?

    • fcrary says:
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      Does Boeing have anything to do with X-37B operations? Boeing built them, but I had the impression the spacecraft were operated by the Air Force.

      • Ben Russell-Gough says:
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        I would think that at least some Boeing techs would need to be involved when it comes to payload integration although I doubt that they’d be involved in more involved mission matters.

      • Mark Thompson says:
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        At KSC, Boeing has taken over one of the old space shuttle processing hangars for the X-37B and they have a giant mural on the door with a picture of the spacecraft and their logo. So they still support the turnaround maintenance. Others here know better than I, but presumably Boeing will need to understand the unique stresses imparted by the Falcon stack to ensure their vehicle will withstand them. I would also guess that the X-37B will be delivered to the Spacex hangar for attachment to the Falcon and addition of the launch shroud. I believe that the X-37B was mated vertically to the Atlas, but that Spacex can only do horizontal, but presumably the Air Force anticipated this and it is doable. Should be an interesting mission.

        • Daniel Woodard says:
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          Horizontal integration has been one of the long poles for SpaceX. Hopefully the DOD has finally realized that it is simpler in the long run to require its payloads manufacturers to design for either horizontal or vertical integration. Structurally it makes little or no difference since the spacecraft must be stressed for lateral vibrations that are greater than 1-G, but getting it on paper that the payload can be integrated horizontally can be expensive.

        • fcrary says:
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          Thanks. I’d assumed the X-37B might be operated like an Air Force aircraft or satellites The usual practice in those cases is for a contractor to build it, and for the Air Force to hand operations on their own. But X planes are an exception.

    • Paul451 says:
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      I don’t think FH would be capable of lofting the Orion stack on a lunar trajectory. LEO, sure, easily. But not lunar.

    • Charlie X Murphy says:
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      Not shocking at all. Boeing spacecraft fly on other launch vehicles all the time. Most of the Boeing 702 spacecraft were launch by Proton or Ariane.

  3. DeaconG says:
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    Oh, snap…that’s gonna leave a mark.

  4. Dante80 says:
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    We have come a long way since SpaceX was certified to carry toilet paper and Tang for the USG. With the surprise cheese wedge thrown in for good measure.

    A long way, in a little time…

    • Daniel Woodard says:
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      A cheese wedge or a cheese wheel? It takes real faith in your spacecraft to trust a good wheel of cheese to it.

  5. Ben Russell-Gough says:
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    A reusable spacecraft on a semi-reusable launcher. It’s a natural combination, when you think about it.

    It also says a lot about USAF’s view of the reliability of Falcon 9 that they’re ready to trust the OTVs to that system.

    • Charlie X Murphy says:
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      No, it says nothing about the reliability. Correction, it does but the opposite of your point. The X-37 is not a prime USAF spacecraft. It does not perform a defense critical function. It is an X platform and can take more risk.

  6. Vladislaw says:
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    I wonder if ULA sent a congratulatory note to SpaceX?

    • Michael Spencer says:
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      In my (very) little corner of the world there are only 2 or 3 other firms regularly considered for the really big jobs. I get some, they get some.

      We always place that phone call.

      Collegiality matters, at least in some circles.

  7. Michael Spencer says:
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    The military has been in a bind with a single source for a long time (counting Delta and Atlas, two different beasts, but coming from the same source and with humungous prices).

    This is good for SpaceX and more importantly it is good for our country. And it is especially good, as Mr. Thompson points out above, for the generals and the cowboys to mix DNA a bit. A little Silicon Valley in the AF Academy, and vice-versa.

    A home run all around excepting ULA, of course. I’m thrilled to see the military showing both leadership and a willingness to take on a new guy.

  8. Todd Austin says:
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    I find the timing part of this interesting. Is it possible that this contract was awarded rather recently? Is it within reason that USAF decided it would like to send up another X-37B on short notice and only SpaceX was able to rapidly make room in its launch schedule to accommodate them?