
The Air Force’s acquisition czar reiterated April 29 that the service can only afford to award contracts to two launch providers for future national security space launches, after a government-sponsored study largely agreed with that assessment. Four launch providers – Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems [NOC], Blue Origin, Space X and United Launch Alliance (ULA) are in the running to win two contracts under the NSSL Phase 2 program. While lawmakers and some competitors themselves have advocated for the Air Force…