14 août 2019 | International, Aérospatial

Four rocket companies are competing for Air Force funding, and it is war

By ERIC BERGER

Monday marked the deadline for four US rocket companies to submit bids for Air Force contracts, encompassing all national security launches from 2022 to 2026. This is a hugely consequential and much-contested bid process that has implications for the American aerospace industry for the next decade and beyond.

The Air Force is seeking two providers for about two dozen launches. The prime contractor will receive 60% of the launches while the secondary contractor claims the remaining 40%. As the US military pays a premium for launch contracts to its nine reference orbits, this guaranteed revenue is extremely valuable to US companies aspiring to run a profitable launch business.

The lead-up to Monday's deadline has included heavy political lobbying from the four companies: United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Northrop Grumman. As a result of this, Congress is considering some changes to the Air Force's procurement policy, including an on-ramp for a third provider during the 2022 to 2026 period. But so far, the Air Force is resisting this.

Here's a look at the four bidders and what is at stake for each of them.

United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance—a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin that enjoyed a monopoly on national security launches before the emergence of SpaceX—may be bidding for its life. To wean itself off its costly Delta boosters (as well as the Russian rocket engines that go with its workhorse Atlas V rocket), ULA has been developing the Vulcan rocket to cut costs while maintaining performance. The company says the Vulcan will be ready for its first flight in 2021.

"Vulcan Centaur will provide higher performance and greater affordability while continuing to deliver our unmatched reliability and orbital accuracy precision from our treasured cryogenic Centaur upper stage," ULA's chief, Tory Bruno, said in a news release Monday. "ULA is the best partner for national security space launch, and we are the only provider to demonstrate experience flying to all orbits including the most challenging heavy-class missions, providing the bedrock foundation for the lowest risk portfolio of two launch service providers for the US Air Force."

With increasing competition from SpaceX, Europe's Arianespace, Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Russian launch vehicles, ULA has been unable to capture much of the commercial market for satellite launches in the last decade. Therefore, it has largely been reliant on government business, mostly from the military. But ULA also relies on NASA through its science missions and lifting cargo and crew missions to the International Space Station.

If the company does not emerge victorious from this competition, it faces an uncertain future unless Vulcan can become commercially viable. Moreover, ULA will lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars in government money to finalize Vulcan if it does not receive an award. Historically, Boeing and Lockheed have been stingy parents, and whether or not they would pay to complete Vulcan is unclear.

One intriguing twist with ULA's bid is that its Vulcan rocket will use the BE-4 rocket engine, which is being developed and manufactured by Blue Origin—one of the four competitors in the Air Force bidding process. Blue Origin has said the Air Force competition was designed to unfairly benefit ULA.

SpaceX

The Hawthorne, California-based rocket company is the only bidder proposing to use rockets that are already flying—the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters. This family of rockets has had a string of 49 successful launches since a static fire accident in September 2016, and according to SpaceX, it can meet all of the Air Force's desired orbits and payload specifications.

"SpaceX means to serve as the Air Force's long-term provider for space launch, offering existing, certified, and proven launch systems capable of carrying out the full spectrum of national security space-launch missions and requirements," said the company's president and chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell.

Since the Air Force agreed to admit SpaceX to the national security launch competition in 2015, the company has won several contracts for key missions and begun flying them for the military. These include the National Reconnaissance Office Launch 76, Orbital Test Vehicle 5, Global Positioning System III-2, and STP-2 flights.

SpaceX also likely will offer the government the lowest price on service to orbit. However, in its criteria for awarding missions, the Air Force listed price among the last of its considerations. Due to its lower price point, especially with is reusable Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX has considerable commercial business to offset the loss of Air Force contracts. But it would hurt financially, all the same.

Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos' rocket company has bid its very large New Glenn rocket for the Air Force missions. However, when this rocket will begin flying is not entirely clear, as there are questions about whether it will be ready by the beginning of the 2022 contracting period.

What is clear is that Blue Origin does not believe the US Air Force has created a fair bidding process. Already, the company has filed a "pre-award" protest with the US Government Accountability Office. "The Air Force is pursuing a flawed acquisition strategy for the National Security Space Launch program," Blue Origin said, according to SpaceNews.

The Air Force decision to award contracts to just two companies creates a "duopoly," Blue Origin says, and it limits commercial development of strategic US assets such as rocket engines and boosters. Bezos has been investing about $1 billion a year of his own money into Blue Origin, which has largely been used to support development of the BE-4 engine and New Glenn rocket. He is likely to continue development of the New Glenn rocket without Air Force funding, but company officials say it is not fair to hold their wealthy founder against their bid.

Northrop Grumman

Northrop has been developing the Omega rocket for this competition since at least 2016. The Omega vehicle differs from the other entrants in the competition as its first and second stages, as well as side-mounted boosters, are powered by solid-rocket motors rather than liquid-fueled engines.

The bet by Northrop is that the US military, through its national security launch contract, would want to support one of the nation's most critical suppliers of solid-rocket motors for intercontinental ballistic missiles. Northrop officials have not said whether they would continue development of the Omega rocket if Northrop were to lose out on the Air Force contract.

Northrop's bid suffered a setback in May when an "anomaly" occurred during test firing of its solid-propellant Castor 600 rocket motor, the Omega rocket's first stage. From a video provided by the company, a major part of the rocket's large nozzle appeared to break apart, blasting debris around the area.

Afterward, a Northrop vice president, Kent Rominger, called the test a success. "It appears everything worked very, very well on this test," he said. "And at the very end when the engine was tailing off, we observed the aft exit cone, maybe a portion of it, doing something a little strange that we need to go further look into."

Nevertheless, the test cannot have instilled absolute confidence in the Air Force.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/four-rocket-companies-are-competing-for-air-force-funding-and-it-is-war/

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7 novembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 6, 2018
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Calpine Energy Solutions LLC, San Diego, California, has been awarded a $67,252,189 firm-fixed-price, requirements contract to supply and deliver retail electricity and ancillary/incidental services. This was a competitive acquisition with 11 offers received. This is a 36-month contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland and California, with a Dec. 31, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (SPE60419D8000). Loc Performance Products Inc.,* Plymouth, Michigan, has been awarded a maximum $52,389,123 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for truck final drives. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Michigan, with an April 30, 2025, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 Army working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-19-D-0015). Direct Energy Business LLC, Iselin, New Jersey, has been awarded a $44,276,459 firm-fixed-price, requirements contract to supply and deliver retail electricity and ancillary/incidental services. This was a competitive acquisition with 11 offers received. This is a 36-month contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Maryland, Washington, District of Columbia, and New Jersey, with a Dec. 31, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (SPE60419D8001). Kinder Morgan Tank Storage Terminal LLC, Carson, California, has been awarded a $40,510,848 firm-fixed-price contract to receive, store and ship aviation fuel. This was a competitive acquisition with one offer received. This is a four-year contract with one five-year option period. Location of performance is California, with a Nov. 9, 2022, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency Energy. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2019 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (SPE603-19-C-5001). ARMY M.C. Dean Inc., Tysons Corner, Virginia (W912GB-19-D-0002); and PAE Professional Services LLC, Falls Church, Virginia (W912GB-19-D-0001), will compete for each order of the $49,900,000 firm-fixed-price contract for construction surveillance services. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 2, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wiesbaden, Germany, is the contracting activity. DRS Sustainment Systems Inc., St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a $17,274,668 modification (P00032) to contract W56HZV-16-C-0028 for Joint Assault Bridges. Work will be performed in West Plains, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of May 11, 2024. Fiscal 2018 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $17,274,668 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Applied Research Solutions, Beavercreek, Ohio, has been awarded a $38,788,878 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, plus an option amount of $5,967,447, for sensing, learning, autonomy, and knowledge engineering research and development. This contract is to conduct research and develop multi-domain technologies and strategies to orchestrate closed-loop sensing that manages knowledge from environment understanding to mission effects, across multiple missions. Work will be performed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and in Dayton, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by March 4, 2024. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $1,254,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-19-C-1692). Honeywell International Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been awarded a $7,838,175 firm-fixed-priced contract for the repair and upgrade of the C-5M Super Galaxy's Versatile Integrated Avionics/Avionics Integrated Units (VIA/AIUs) repair and upgrade. This order subsumes all work on previous order FA8625-18-F-6801, providing for the repair and upgrade of 85 of the existing -903 and -904 configuration VIA/AIUs to the -905 configuration. Work will be performed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed by July 5, 2020. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $7,146,972; and fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $691,203 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8625-19-F-6801). NAVY CACI Enterprise Solutions Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a $26,241,210 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee task order contract for integrated business systems support services. Information technology services in this contract will assist Military Sealift Command's (MSC) business systems and ashore operations branch manage, operate, and maintain the command's business systems, as well as interfaces with the Navy enterprise defense business systems. Additionally, this contract will allow MSC to integrate all of its business systems into a single, integrated business system to meet emergent and newly mandated requirements specifically, federal compliance mandates such as financial improvement and audit readiness, growing cybersecurity concerns, cloud migration, and interoperability and integration with Navy and federal programs of records. This integrated system is a new requirement, necessitating a single support contract to achieve interoperability, maintain and sustain fleet operations, and effect a total cost of ownership model. This contract includes one 12-month base period and four 12-month options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $125,367,596. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2019. If options are exercised, work will continue through Dec. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2019 working capital funds (Navy and Transportation Command) in the amount of $19,718,408 will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, with proposals solicited via the National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center's CIO-SP3 website, with four offers received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519F1044). (Awarded Nov. 5, 2018) CORRECTION: Contracts awarded on Oct. 25, 2018, to Central Lake Armor Express Inc.,* Central Lake, Michigan, for a ceiling of $59,369,617 (M67854-19-D-1509) incorrectly stated the production quantity. The correct quantity is 1,322,650 Plate Carrier Generation III - Soft Armor Inserts. Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1683955/source/GovDelivery/
2 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 29, 2019
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, California, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $218,749,892 modification (P00006) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPRPA1-20-F-CD01) with four one-year option periods for performance based logistics and engineering support for the V-22 platform. This is a firm-fixed-price requirements contract. Locations of performance are Texas and Pennsylvania, with a Nov. 30, 2020, performance completion date. Using customers are Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Foreign Military Sales to Japan. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 Air Force, U.S. Special Operations Command, Navy and FMS appropriated funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NAVY Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, San Diego, California, is awarded a $74,726,993 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for design agent engineering services for networks and network user systems on operational landing platform/dock (LPD)-17 class amphibious transport dock ships. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (80%); Norfolk, Virginia (15%); Mayport, Florida (5%) and is expected to be complete by December 2024. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, (Navy) funding in the amount of $689,680 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c) (1), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, as implemented by Part 6.302-1 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. This contract was issued on a sole-source basis to Raytheon Integrated Defense Services. This requirement is for design agent engineering and technical services for the overall management, development, testing, troubleshooting, repair, configuration, maintenance and fleet sustainment of fielded networks and associated network user systems/clients on operational LPD 17-class amphibious transport dock ships. These services are in support of Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Code 52, which is responsible for the lifecycle in-service engineering agent support of mission critical interior communications data networks. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N64498-20-D-0001). W.R. Systems, Fairfax, Virginia, is awarded a modification to a previously awarded (N65236-19-D-8001) indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, with provisions for firm-fixed-price task orders, performance based contract. 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This requirement is to provide SUBSAFE/L1 (or related) hardware, systems engineering, technical analyses, mechanical and electrical design, manufacturing, installation, test and evaluation, maintenance and repair services required to support existing and future fleet programs. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), only a limited number of responsible sources and no other supplies or services will satisfy the needs of the agency. This tasking was limited to those activities qualified to perform SUBSAFE work per the Naval Sea Systems Command Notice 5000, fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, is the contracting activity. Washington State Community College District #3, Bremerton, Washington, is awarded a not-to-exceed $18,000,000 five-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for educational services in support of the apprenticeship, helper and after-hours program, which pays for tuition, lab fees, math fees, tutoring services and assessment fees in an effort to provide customers with quality, timely and cost efficient maintenance, modernization, and technical and logistics support by maintaining a highly trained and skilled workforce. These services are in support of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Facility in Bremerton, Washington. This contract does not include options. Work will be performed in Bremerton, Washington, and is expected to be complete by December 2024. No funding will be obligated at the time of award. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations Part 15, this was a competitive procurement with one offer received via the Federal Business Opportunities website. Operations and maintenance (Navy) funding will be obligated at the task order level prior to each semester. This is a commercial service contract that was competed in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 15. Only one proposal by the incumbent was received. The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, is the contracting activity (N4523A20D1300). ARMY General Dynamics Mission Systems, Taunton, Massachusetts, was awarded a $9,164,584 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to procure contractor field service representative support services for the warfighter. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Taunton, Massachusetts, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2020. 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