There is no deadline for the Defense Department to enact the national security waiver that would allow it to use additional RD-180s in the future, according to a top Air Force official, despite the fiscal year 2016 appropriations season progressing and Air Force enthusiasm for competition in national security space launches.

Air Force Director of Space Programs Maj. Gen. Roger Teague told Defense Daily before his panel presentation at the 2015 GEOINT Symposium in Washington that DoD officials are still discussing whether to use the waiver and that the Pentagon is hoping lawmakers will resolve the issue during the FY ’16 defense appropriations and authorization season.

NASA engineers successfully test the Russian-built RD-180 in 1998 at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Ala. Photo: NASA.
NASA engineers successfully test the Russian-built RD-180 in 1998 at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Ala. Photo: NASA.

The Air Force is under pressure to get moving on its plan for future procurement of national security launch services as the FY ’15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) requires the Air Force to develop a domestic next-generation rocket propulsion system and be off the Russian-developed RD-180 for space launch by 2019. It also bans the use of the RD-180 in future Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV), but it also provides an out, allowing DoD to enact the waiver and certify to congressional defense committees that the waiver is necessary for United States national security interests and that launch services couldn’t be obtained at a fair and reasonable price without Russian designed or manufactured engines.

If the waiver isn’t enacted, another potential monopoly for EELV missions could eventually develop near the end of the decade. Launch incumbent United Launch Alliance (ULA) plans to retire its U.S.-developed Delta IV in the 2018-2019 time frame, leaving recent certifier Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) as the only provider certified for national security space launch missions, unless another company gains certification in time.

There also seems to be confusion as to who is ultimately responsible for enacting the national security wavier. A high ranking Air Force general and a spokeswoman for DoD acquisition czar Frank Kendall have said that the other party is responsible for enacting the national security waiver (Defense Daily, April 30).

Teague said during his GEOINT presentation that the Air Force is performing an end-to-end analysis of its space capabilities to make sure it understands exactly where the service’s strengths and weaknesses lie and how to secure those vulnerabilities. Teague also said the Air Force is taking a special look at its strategic communications and whether it makes sense to alter those protected, tactical and protected strategic communications architectures.

The Air Force, Teague said, is examining its missile warning architectures, including its overhead persistent infrared (OPIR) systems and examining whether it is necessary to differentiate between strategic and tactical layers.

Satellite resiliency was a theme for the panel, but a top Army space official said for small satellites to truly provide maximum resiliency, DoD needs to be able to provide low-cost responsive launch. Army Space and Missile Defense Command Director for Space and Strategic Systems Directorate Thomas Webber said if the military is going to build a $200,000 satellite, it doesn’t want to launch it on a $60 million rocket.

NASA last week issued a request for proposals (RFP) for what it called the smallest class of launch services it has ever procured. NASA plans to award one or possibly two firm-fixed-price Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) contracts to accommodate 132 pounds of CubeSats in a single launch, or two launches carrying 66 pounds each, according to an agency statement. The launch provider will determine the launch location and date, but the launch must occur by April 15, 2018 (Defense Daily, June 15).

ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA].