
Air Force Secretary Deborah James said she selected former chief of staff and retired Gen. Larry Welch to lead an independent review of the service’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) new entrant certification process.The process came under fire after the Air Force and new entrant Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) missed a Dec. 31 deadline for certifying the company to become eligible to receive Defense Department launch contracts. Currently, the only certified launch provider is United Launch Alliance (ULA).The Air…