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SpaceX vs. Everyone - ULA, NG, Boeing, Lockheed, etc.

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If ULA was bypassed, both the karma and the irony are too rich to pass up. They have been working every political lever to keep SpaceX out of the national security and military launches, and now, only a few years later, they are the ones with their noses pressed up against the window begging to be let in. Poor, underdog ULA....
 
I am quite sure that the way how things panned out recently has lead to many meetings held behind closed doors inside ULA.
No organization is always single-minded. Now is the time to raise their voice for those who demanded changes, but had to succumb under the hierarchy for the last years. Now is the time to fight for another approach for the "usual way to do things."

Disruption in progress.
 
I am quite sure that the way how things panned out recently has lead to many meetings held behind closed doors inside ULA.
No organization is always single-minded. Now is the time to raise their voice for those who demanded changes, but had to succumb under the hierarchy for the last years. Now is the time to fight for another approach for the "usual way to do things."

Disruption in progress.
Really!!
I'm sure ULA is planning huge increases in their congressional donations and lobbying efforts. They'd be foolish to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on attempting a technical fix when a few tens of millions into the right hands would make the whole problem go away.
 
Really!!
I'm sure ULA is planning huge increases in their congressional donations and lobbying efforts. They'd be foolish to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on attempting a technical fix when a few tens of millions into the right hands would make the whole problem go away.

I was gonna give this post a "funny" or at least a "like" but then I realized that there's just too much possible truth here. Where's the button for cynical-but-I'm-there-with-you-brother.

Alan
 
Amending my original post on the reason SpaceX got this.
This was clearly a case where USAF wanted a 2nd supplier, they didn't give this to SpaceX directly because SpaceX was cheaper, but because they wanted SpaceX to be qualified to launch the X37B. Once that's proven, follow up launches will likely be all or nearly all competed as it should. But likely SpaceX charged less than USAF was paying to ULA Atlas V anyways.
 
No surprise here. ULA gets to continue to use the Russian RD-180 for the Atlas V and Orbital ATK gets to use the RD-181 for Antares.

Amendment to Senate bill allows continued imports of Russian rocket engines - SpaceNews.com

Am I mistaken or is this the same old ban the keeps getting debated over and over? My impression is that this is not a case of "Unintended Consequences" but rather, poor planning on the part of organizations dependent on these Russian engines.
 
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Am I mistaken or is this the same old ban the keeps getting debated over and over? My impression is that this is not a case of "Unintended Consequences" but rather, poor planning on the part of organizations dependent on these Russian engines.

In some ways it is actually stupid not to let these companies import the Russian engines. The government has basically set this all up and then different factions are fighting it out. The payloads still need to get to orbit. SpaceX is already pretty busy, so it's not like they are getting screwed anymore. It was very wrong when they were being shut out. That isn't happening anymore. Maybe in another five years it will be improper when SpaceX can launch once a week with 100 fully successful launches under their belt. In the meantime, even though ULA has been jerks in the past, it is important for the USA to have multiple launch companies to utilize as necessary.

It was definitely laziness that allowed for these organizations to rely on Russian engines. The government blithely ignored the problem until it became a real problem. Negligence is rampant in all of this. From the government to the organizations.

And commenting about all of this, here's a fun one:
Air Force budget reveals how much SpaceX undercuts launch prices

Elon referenced this article on twitter....

And to bring it all home, the average cost to taxpayers is $422 million per launch.
 
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Any idea if the X-37 will launch from Canaveral or Vandenberg?

Edit: Maybe a telling slip up on my part.. Might this be the first launch from the rebuilt pad 40? (Canaveral Air Station vs. Kennedy Space Center)
I believe this has not been noted yet. It should be formalized in the next 3-4 weeks as the launch makes it to the official schedule of either ranges.
X37 has been launched from both east and west coasts. Also, there are 2 units.
 
Wild Comment: Perhaps the AF, NROL, etc. should consider using a Dragon capsule as the base for a spy/observation platform. It can carry a lot more both weight and volume than the X37, particularly if you include the trunk, although that can't be returned. It's supposed to be good for at least 2 years in orbit.