The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) is working toward providing the Air Force RD-180 relief in the form of additional national security waivers, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said Nov. 19.
Lawmakers are working on their omnibus spending bill for the remainder of fiscal year 2016. The current continuing resolution (CR) expires in December. Shelby is on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) did not respond to the Air Force’s request for proposals for the service’s first competed launch in years: a Global Positioning System III (GPS III) launch slated for 2018. ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye cited a variety of reasons, including insufficient number of Russian-developed RD-180s due to restrictions placed in the FY ’15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that limits the purchase of additional engines.
ULA CEO and President Tory Bruno in October warned the Air Force that it wouldn’t bid for the GPS III launch, unless it received legislative relief or if the service exercised a national security waiver, allowing it to buy additional RD-180s. The Air Force declined to execute the national security waiver.
Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Nov. 19 weighed in on ULA not bidding for the GPS III launch, saying he was unhappy with the company’s absence. ULA’s absence left the door open for a sole source contract to Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX). An industry source expected the company to bid for the contract. SpaceX has a company policy on not disclosing bids ahead of award.
“We have spent some $300 million per year to…keep them in business and then the first chance they get, they bail out,” McCain said. “That’s very concerning.”
McCain spokesman Dustin Walker said Nov. 19 the FY ’16 defense authorization bill, which awaits the president’s signature, requires the Air Force to eliminate the currently structured Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) launch capability contract (ELC) arrangement for all launches purchased after FY ’17. Walker said, however, given that ULA has not decided not to participate in the GPS III launch competition, the senator has questions about the appropriateness of the ELC arrangement if ULA is abstaining from providing launch capabilities.
From 2006-2013, the Defense Department had two types of contracts with ULA, which at the time was the only certified provider of national security space launches. According to early 2014 Government Accountability Office (GAO) briefing slides, one contract was a cost-plus-incentive-fee ELC, which was for ULA to be ready to launch when the Air Force required. The second contract was a firm-fixed-price EELV launch services contract (ELS) for the actual launch services.
Though McCain is not an appropriator, he proposed eliminating ULA’s ELC contract. McCain is also a historic critic of Boeing [BA], which serves with Lockheed Martin [LMT] as the ULA joint venture.
“We have stopped, for next year, this maintenance money we were paying them to stay in business,” he said. “Now I think we ought to eliminate it for this year.”
ULA did not respond to requests for comment by press time.