The Air Force will hold its first launch competition in almost 10 years, regardless of whether one of two expected bidders declines to participate.
Air Force spokeswoman Alicia Garges said Wednesday the service would not cancel the Global Positioning System (GPS) III launch competition if United Launch Alliance (ULA) decides not to bid. ULA CEO Tory Bruno said Friday the company would not make an offer unless it gets permission to acquire additional Russian-developed RD-180s, either legislatively or through a national security waiver. ULA and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) are the two expected bidders for the launch.
Bruno said Friday he does not have a RD-180 engine available to bid for the GPS III launch. The conferenced fiscal year 2016 defense authorization bill, which passed both the House and Senate, allows ULA four additional RD-180s moving forward, in addition to five from a previous contract award. The FY ’15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) banned future use of Russian rocket engines unless they were part of the Air Force’s 2013 “block buy” of launch cores from ULA or already under contract by the time Russian invaded Crimea in early 2014.
Bruno’s remark about not having an engine is largely viewed as a maneuver to pressure the Air Force to process the national security waiver and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to approve it so the service gets the launch competition it desires. Air Force Director of the Launch Enterprise Directorate Claire Leon said Tuesday via a spokeswoman Congress is not involved in the waiver process.
The national security waiver is an OSD-level decision. Leon said Friday the Air Force is working with Pentagon leadership to request the national security waiver. She said Tuesday via the spokeswoman that the service would also press forward with the GPS III launch competition if the national security waiver failed to be enacted.
Responses to the GPS III request for proposal (RFP) are due Nov. 16. The expected launch window is around May 2018, according to a notice posted on Federal Business Opportunities (FBO). Leon said Tuesday via a spokeswoman Air Force timelines require an award to be made by May and the service expects source selection to take six months. Industry sources told Defense Daily SpaceX is expected to respond to the RFP. The company’s policy is to not disclose, prior to award, which programs or competitions it pursues.
Leon said the Air Force coordinated with OSD on the RFP, which, along with the model contract, provides offerors multiple options to comply with the FY ’15 NDAA language. Leon said these include using a domestically-procured engine; utilizing a Russian engine procured, and fully paid for, before the Russian invasion of Crimea; and requesting a national security waiver.
The Air Force said in its GPS III launch announcement an additional GPS III launch RFP would be released no earlier than Oct. 14. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA].