Editorial On Monday, an Innerspace editorial suggested that perhaps it is time to reconsider restrictions on launching U.S. government payloads on friendly foreign launchers, namely the Ariane V. Part of the logic came from the assessment that ULA is simply not going to be able to make the Atlas V price competitive with the SpaceX […]
Editorial The long running drama regarding United Launch Alliance and the use of Russian RD-180 engines for the Atlas V rocket entered a new phase late Friday with the announcement that the Pentagon will not issue a waiver requested by the company allowing it to acquire more engines which it says are needed for competitive […]
At Issue: The RD-180 According to a Reuters story the running battle between SpaceX and United Launch Alliance over military launches and Russian hardware took a new turn yesterday when Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R, Arizona) flatly rejected a request by defense officials to allow a broader interpretation of restrictions on the […]
Delta Heavy / Image Credit United Launch Alliance An Innerspace Editorial: In what seems to be becoming something of an annual affair, it was SpaceX versus United Launch Alliance Round earlier this week in Washington D.C. Last year, SpaceX’s Elon Musk and ULA’s Michael Gass squared off against each other in a highly contentious Senate […]
AsiaSat 8 Streaks into the Night Sky: Image Credit: SpaceX “Fly By Night Away from Here!” belted out Rush’s Geddy Lee, and SpaceX is hoping its Falcon 9 booster will do just that on a launch scheduled for 50 minutes after midnight out of Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40. After a 10 day interlude to check for […]
Late last week, SpaceX’s lawsuit against the U.S. Air Force regarding the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program took a bit of a surprising turn when Federal Judge Susan Braden ordered both parties to enter into mediation. While the Judge has not ruled on a previous motion to dismiss filed by the Air Force, she did […]
In the six weeks which have passed since SpaceX’s Elon Musk and ULA’s Michael Gass squared off in Congressional testimony over the EELV program, SpaceX has completed another successful mission with the Falcon 9, the ninth overall and the fourth of the Falcon 9 V1.1/ F-9R. ULA has also completed two more launches, both by […]
Image Credit : ULA Editorial Karl Marx once said “The last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope.” He may have been right on at least this point. Underscoring once again America’s self-inflicted dependence on Russian technology for launching its own most expensive intelligence assets, a United Launch Alliance Atlas […]
Late Wednesday, NASA’s still cordial relationship with Russia took an odd turn when NasaWatch reported rumors of an internal email advising NASA personnel to suspend all communications with the Russian government, except where the International Space Station is concerned. Later in the evening the agency posted the following “official” statement on its Google Plus account, […]
“Over the past year, the 80 programs of the 2013 portfolio have grown by a total of $12.6 billion, a net cost increase nearly all attributable to the significant procurement cost associated with one program—the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle.” And that’s just from the front page. In what is becoming a repeated annual refrain, the […]
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