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Monday, October 21, 2024

SpaceX Dominates ULA in latest Space Force Bidding

The US Space Force's Space Systems Command announced Friday that in their latest contract competition, it has ordered all nine launches from SpaceX.  This was in the bidding competition for the first batch of dozens of missions the military will buy in the next phase of national security launch contracts.

The nine launches are divided into two fixed-price "task orders" that Space Systems Command opened up for bids earlier this year.  One task order is for seven launches of missile tracking and data relay satellites for the Space Development Agency's constellation. The other is for two launches for the National Reconnaissance Office, the US government's spy satellite organization. SpaceX won both task orders for a combined value of $733.5 million. 

The only two companies invited to bid on the contract were SpaceX and the United Launch Alliance. 

The contracts they're reporting on appear to be the ones mentioned this June in that they use the same terminology of Phase and Lane. 

This is the Space Force's first firm order for rocket launches in the so-called Phase 3 round of launch procurements. The Space Force has divided 79 missions for competition in the Phase 3 procurement into two classifications: Lane 1 and Lane 2.

The task orders announced Friday are the first awarded in Phase 3 Lane 1, which is for less demanding launch profiles into low-Earth orbit.

"We are excited to kick off our innovative NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 effort with two task orders that support critical NRO and SDA missions," said Lt. Col. Douglas Downs, Space Systems Command's material leader for space launch procurement. "Industry stepped up to the plate and delivered on this competition."

While the USSF has mentioned several more possible competitors for these Lane 1 launches, including Blue Origin's New Glenn, military officials require a rocket to complete at least one successful orbital launch to become qualified for a Lane 1 task order and New Glenn hasn't flown. While Vulcan has carried out two successful orbital test flights - they don't have the full certification for all USSF launches yet. That certification will be a requirement for the coming Lane 2 missions, which are going to be more challenging military missions, typically larger, more expensive payloads destined for higher orbits. 

The Space Force is expected to soon select launch providers for Lane 2 missions. These launches will require the Space Force to certify the rockets, whereas the military is comfortable accepting a little more risk for the Lane 1 missions.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are currently certified for national security launches. 

File photo of a Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, SLC-4E. Image credit: SpaceX



5 comments:

  1. Most Excellent for SpaceX. They really are the only 'certified' game in town.

    I wonder, though, will the Space Force tell California to suck it in regards to California's restrictions on SpaceX launching from California due to California politicians and bureaucrats hating Elon Musk for his political support of President Trump.

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  2. If Trump doesn't win next month....and the odds of him overcoming the cheat are enormous...Musk is hosed. Space X will be either shuttered or taken away from him. Once that happens it will no longer be successful. It will become another slush fund for corrupt bureaucrats...like NASA

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  3. I think they needed to create SpaceX cause the legacy aerospace money laundering inc's became so fossilized there was no hope they would be able to bring the next stage of turning the industry into at the least a break even money making entity, (in the up and up company sense

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    1. Are you kidding? There has been NO effort to hold costs down nor innovate, and most of it has to do with that dirty two word phrase, "cost plus".
      No incentive to save, no incentive to get it done, political pressure to spread around taxpayer dollars to constituents... you get the idea of the corruption involved. Yes, I said "corruption".
      Break even? Stay within budget, both time and money?? HAH
      Not gonna happen with the entrenched Legacy Aerospace.

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  4. I think they had to create something like SpaceX because the big legacy aerospace corporate entities would never be able to turn into what SpaceX is become, along with turning space exploration into ventures that are at least break-even entities, the legacies have fossilized into massive federal money laundering inc's and lost so much of their core ability to be innovative never mind cost effective. It appears clear at least to me, Elon is though a gifted individual, he is in no way running SpaceX, he is an intelligent talented front man, which is not necessarily wrong or a bad thing, it is what it is, he has created a unique kind of space cult, thats a really good thing, though nothing beats the 60's drive and nationalistic pull together sense of git er done, not gonna fail because if me mind set so many regular good folks created that made that epoch so possible and so successful.
    Somebody('s) wants/needs to get into space in a big way, and so they created SpaceX, a lot of which that runs and drives SpaceX is remained pretty much hidden from public view, brilliantly employing Elon as a most viable visible figure within their organization. Hey, getting into space in a sensible economically sustainable way is what matters most right now, it had to happen, the legacy outfits are obviously incapable of this, at least for now, maybe they change their spots, they surely have the resources, but not the right brains and backing, their internal manufacturing culture is entrenched in so many inhibiting processes snd procedures and quality processes, to the point they can not even do an reasonably updated technically successful Apollo capsule, but that does not matter much now, its upwards and outwards on budget and creating future viable returns in investments that counts, in no uncertain terms.
    For me, from a little kid watching Mercury, and Gemini in particular, (in some ways the coolest of cool and what those guys did with so little, it was straight up pure space stuff, they did the really hard things, everyone involved where studs in my book, as a young boy, a BoyScout, seeing that all, it did not get any better, some of my favorite heroes), so to see that huge booster float down from supersonic to a butterfly, unless we really live in The Matrix, thats the effin' Bee's Knees, first shot they nailed it, so much could have failed but it all worked, I think everything else next is the cherry in top, it is so important what they just did, they raised the bar in aerospace to a true orbital level. Everything just changed in ways which is gonna direct the future in space for a decade at least. The whole concept is brilliant, so much so, be quite awhile for its effects to sink into our thinking. Not the SpaceX people, there is no tying them down now, only possible limiting factor is operating funds, (we will have to see what the federal leviathan does now, if they are not onboard after this, its truly time to be rid of the beast, no messing around about it).

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