Standing in the foyer of the Colorado state capitol earlier today, United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno introduced a new cubesat launch program aimed at promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education at the university level. Beginning in 2017, ULA will mount a dedicated cubesat launcher on the Aft Bulkead Carrier of the Atlas […]
As threatened, United Launch Alliance declined to turn in a bid for the first openly competed national security space launch in more than a decade. Here is the statement from ULA: “ULA wants nothing more than to compete, but unfortunately we are unable to submit a compliant bid for GPS III-X launch services. The RFP […]
With SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin all working on methane powered boosters, NASA is a little late to the party on this one, but maybe they’re bringing the good stuff. The Marshall Space Flight Center is testing a 4,000 lb. thrust pressure-fed methane rocket engine in anticipation of a developing larger descent/ascent engines […]
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 […]
Last week, we reported that Lockheed Martin has apparently been quietly eliminated from NASA’s CRS-2 resupply contract competition, speculating that it could be a development which opened the crack a little wider for Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser space plane. The following press release from SNC does nothing to dispel that line of thought. Sierra […]
Europe’s aerospace sector appears to be waking up to the possibility that American companies are on the verge of establishing first stage reusability. In June, Airbus-Safran announced Adeline, an acronym for Advanced Expendable Launcher with Innovative Engine Economy. Adeline is a recoverable first stage propulsion package which would return the engine and avionics of an Ariane […]
Reflecting what appears to be a state of increasing desperation, Aerojet Rocketdyne is not giving up on its bid for United Launch Alliance just yet. Reuters reports that after having seen its $2 billion offer rejected in a 2 sentence e-mail, Aerojet has hired outside consultants who may suggest upping the offer, or in the […]
Two weeks ago, for a moment it looked as if Aerojet Rocketdyne stood a fair shot at walking away with United Launch Alliance for something close to its $2 billion dollar unsolicited offer. Had the deal gone through, Aerojet would have presumably been in a much stronger position to secure government funding for its AR-1 […]
According to Reuters, Aerojet-Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. has made an offer to purchase United Launch Alliance from parent companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin for approximately $2 billion in a deal which could achieve preliminary agreement as early as next week. The deal would mark a major shakeup and yet another consolidation in the traditional, or “OldSpace” […]
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