The Air Force, at the moment, won’t decertify Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) from competing for military launches because the service doesn’t know if the company’s June 28 Falcon 9 launch failure was a one-off incident or a systemic issue.
“They have the benefit of the doubt,” Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (AFSMC) Commander Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves said July 31 at a Peter Huessy breakfast series event on Capitol Hill. “Eighteen successful launches ought to mean something…just like with (United Launch Alliance)…that long string of successes means something.”
Greaves defended the Air Force’s certification process for SpaceX’s Falcon 9, saying he was designated the certification official by the service, meaning he had no pressure from leaders above him in his chain-of-command. Throughout SpaceX’s two-year certification process, which started in the summer of 2013, Greaves said the Air Force reviewed and assessed the company’s non-recurring processes like manufacturing production, risk management, safety, supply chain, overall approach and procedures.
Greaves said, in addition, the Air Force flew Falcon 9 supporting NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission that launched “very successfully” in February. Greaves was also the certification official on that mission, he said, and the Air Force learned quite a bit working with SpaceX on DSCOVR, which NOAA said reached its orbit one million miles from earth in June.
“When something goes exactly as planned, we just don’t jump off the deep end and say they’re not certified,” Greaves said.
The Air Force has had “very active, open” access to the CRS-7 mishap investigation, which is being lead by SpaceX and with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight. Greaves said the Air Force has been following the investigation closely since it was invited on “day one.” SpaceX, Greaves said, has been providing him and his team access to its entire database. Greaves said once the investigation is complete, the Air Force will examine SpaceX’s body of data and assess whether the CRS-7 failure will affect certification.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said July 20 the company believes a strut in the second stage liquid oxygen tank that broke free during flight likely caused the CRS-7 failure. Musk said SpaceX will switch to a different strut design and material—most likely from a different supplier—and will individually test every one, he said. It will replace the struts in both the second and first stage tanks (Defense Daily, July 20).
A number of lawmakers co-signed a July 30 letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Air Force Secretary Deborah James, expressing their concern that SpaceX would be responsible for conducting its own investigation and that enough “investigation and engineering rigor” applied would be enough to prevent future military launch mishaps.
The lawmakers wanted to know if the Falcon 9 would be decertified and if fixes to the rocket, along with planned changes, would require new certification and licensing. The letter was first reported by the Denver Post.
Greaves assured the audience that the company was not playing favorites with SpaceX. He said the Air Force is hitting the investigation “hard,” just as it would for ULA, which has had a long streak of its own in successful military launches.
“There should be no perception that SpaceX is getting a pass, or that we will treat them any differently,” Greaves said.
SpaceX spokesman John Taylor said July 31 Falcon 9 would return to flight no sooner than September. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA].