NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.-–Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) could be certified by Dec. 1 to perform national security space launches, according to the head of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC).
Though AFSPC chief Gen. John Hyten said Tuesday he hopes the company can be certified by this December date, he said if the company isn’t certified for Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) by Dec. 1, the Air Force is going to have to “stand up and say it.”
“That (would) be difficult because I want competition,” Hyten told an audience here at the 2014 Air and Space Conference hosted by the Air Force Association.
SpaceX wants to be able to launch defense and intelligence payloads for the federal government, a role that has been solely held by United Launch Alliance (ULA) since the company was formed in the mid-2000s. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA].
Though the Defense Department says it wants competition for EELV to help drive down the cost of launch, earlier this year it cut the number of competed launches in half from 14 to seven. Lawmakers have criticized both the Air Force and ULA for allowing launch contracts to grow rapidly under a monopoly arrangement. The Air Force last year sole-sourced a multi-billion dollar contract to ULA for 36 launch cores. SpaceX is currently suing the Air Force to compel it to compete the block buy.
Air Force Secretary Deborah James on Tuesday also hedged Hyten’s Dec. 1 certification goal, saying it sounded “a little more aggressive” than what she heard. Air Force officials and SpaceX representatives have been reluctant to give certification goals beyond ballpark figures like around the first quarter of 2015, as James reiterated Tuesday. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment by press time Tuesday.
Director of National Intelligenc (DNI) James Clapper, an influential voice in the national security realm, in May “absolutely” endorsed competition in the space launch market. Clapper added certification of new entrants like SpaceX is important to ensure they can successfully lift spy satellites, which are often estimated to be among the most expensive of national security spacecraft (Defense Daily, May 22).