Amendment may keep Iran-Russia sanctions bill from stopping ISS launches from Wallops, Daily Press “An Iran-Russia sanctions bill threatened to torpedo Orbital ATK’s commercial resupply missions for NASA from Virginia to the International Space Station until an amendment cleared the U.S. Senate Thursday to remove the bill’s unintended consequences to civilian agencies. Senators voted overwhelmingly — 94 to 6 — to approve the amendment after several members, including Virginia’s Mark […]
Senate Reaches Agreement on Russian RD-180 Engines, SpacePolicyOnline “Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) brokered an agreement among Senators who have been at sharp odds over how to transition U.S. rocket launches away from reliance on Russian RD-180 engines to a new American-made engine. The Nelson amendment passed the Senate this morning by voice vote as part of the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA itself then passed the Senate […]
Statement of Administration Policy: S. 2943 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, OMB “If the President were presented with S. 2943, his senior advisors would recommend he veto the bill. … … Multiple Provisions Imposing Restrictions on the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Program: The Administration strongly objects to sections 1036, 1037, 1038, and 1611. Section 1036 would restrict DOD’s authority to use RD-180 engines, eliminate the Secretary’s […]
National Security Space Launch at a Crossroads, Congressional Research Service “Transitioning away from the RD-180 to a domestic U.S. alternative would likely involve technical, program, and schedule risk. A combination of factors over the next several years, as a worst-case scenario, could leave the United States in a situation where some of its national security space payloads would not have a certified launcher available. Even with a smooth, on- schedule […]
Senate Armed Services Committee Sticks to Its Guns on RD-180 Rocket Engines, Space Policy Online “U.S. national space transportation policy requires that at least two independent launch systems be available for national security launches. If one suffers a failure, access to space is assured by the other. For more than a decade, those two have been Atlas V and Delta IV, both ULA rockets. SpaceX argues that now the two […]
House panel doubles authorized purchase of Russian rocket engines, The Hill “The House Armed Services Committee voted Thursday morning to double the allowed purchase of Russian-made rocket engines from nine to 18, despite a desire to develop an American-made alternative. The committee adopted the amendment, by Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), by voice vote, after vigorous debate that did not fall along party lines. The Air Force relies on United Launch […]
Draft House bill would scramble Air Force’s rocket engine plan, SpaceNews “The proposed restrictions essentially would forbid the Air Force from funding several recently announced co-investment deals with Orbital ATK, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance beyond this year. The Air Force doled out $317 million worth of contracts to help fund Orbital ATK’s development of a new solid-fueled launcher, SpaceX’s development a new upper-stage engine, and ULA’s development of Vulcan, […]
SASC Chairman John McCain Urges Air Force Secretary to Address Russia’s Role in National Security Space Program “Contrary to the estimates you provided to me in private, I am left to conclude that your decision to publicly cite a figure as high as $5 billion was done so to obfuscate efforts to responsibly transition off of the RD-180 before the end of the decade,” writes Chairman McCain. “I invite you […]
Pentagon opens probe of comments by former rocket executive, Yahoo “Defense Secretary Ash Carter last week referred the matter to the Pentagon’s independent watchdog agency following strong statements by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain.” Pentagon investigating United Launch Alliance over former executive’s SpaceX remarks, The Verge “At the request of the Secretary of Defense, the OIG DoD has opened an investigation regarding assertions made by United Launch Alliance’s […]
Air Force Awards Final Rocket Propulsion System Prototype OTAs, Space and Missile Systems Center “Today the Space and Missile Systems Center awarded the final Other Transaction Agreements for shared public-private investments in Rocket Propulsion System prototypes. One award is to Aerojet Rocketdyne for development of the AR1 rocket propulsion system. The initial government investment is $115.3 million. The other award is to United Launch Alliance for development of the Vulcan/BE-4 […]
