U.S. Plans Satellite-Launch Contest as Russian Engines Dropped - Bloomberg Business: The U.S. Air Force has crafted a strategyfor military satellite launches that would end its dependence onRussian-built engines and culminate in a competition for as manyas 28 missions, the service’s purchasing chief said.
The contest between at least two teams of rocket andpropulsion companies, buttressed by Pentagon spending for newengine research, would cover launches from 2020 to 2024,according to an Air Force document and a statement by WilliamLaPlante, the service’s assistant secretary for acquisition.
“The approach involves shared investment with industrytoward the ultimate goal of two or more domestic launch serviceproviders in innovative public-private partnerships,” LaPlantesaid in the statement Tuesday to a House Armed Servicessubcommittee in Washington. The service expects Pentagonapproval of its strategy “in the coming weeks,” LaPlante said.
Rising U.S.-Russia tensions over President Vladimir Putin’ssupport of separatists in Ukraine spurred questions in Congressabout dependence on Russian-made RD-180 engine on U.S. rockets.A joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co., the twobiggest U.S. government contractors, provides those launchesusing the RD-180 on the workhorse Atlas booster.
