The Air Force Tuesday issued a request for proposal (RFP) for an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) mission, its first competitive procurement of a space launch mission in 10 years.
The mission will launch in 2016, according to Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Erika Yepsen. It will be a firm fixed price deal, according to the contract posted on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO). The launch is for the NROL-79, a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
Proposals are due no later than Aug. 14. EELV incumbent United Launch Alliance (ULA) and likely-to-be-certified new entrant Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) are the expected bidders. ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye said Wednesday in an email if new entrants become certified, ULA looks forward to demonstrating its commitment to be the safest, most reliable and most cost-effective provider.
SpaceX spokesman John Taylor said opening more national security space missions to competition is a step in the right direction and the company welcomes the news. SpaceX is suing the Air Force to force it to compete its 36 core “block buy” of launch cores from ULA, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA].