Sunday, April 28, 2024
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Key Issues Optical clocks Prototype funding SPAFORGEN
The Air Force has awarded United Launch Services a $1.5 billion contract "for Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) launch service in support of a Defense Meteorological Satellites Program 19; a Mobile User Objective System-3; three National Reconnaissance Office missions; and Delta IV EELV launch service in support of Air Force Space Command-4, two Global Positioning Systems, and Defense Meteorological Satellites Program-20 missions," according to a just-issued Pentagon statement.
Work will be performed in Decatur, AL, and should be done by June 30, 2014, the DOD statement reads.
Inside the Pentagon reported last month that the EELV program, the main provider of launch vehicles for U.S. military and intelligence satellites, faces a $1 billion funding gap because the proposed budget buys six fewer boosters than needed. That gap is part of a larger $4.1 billion shortfall due to "problematic funding issues," according to White House guidance. ITP further reports:
The problems in the Pentagon's budget blueprint for fiscal years 2013 to 2017 are identified in the Office of Management and Budget's Nov. 29 passback memorandum to the department, which urges DOD to address the concerns by "adding back funding, finding specific offsets, or by restructuring programs." Inside the Pentagon obtained a copy of the document.
On EELV specifically, ITP reported:
The passback calls for $360 million in FY-13 for two boosters, $180 million in FY-14 for one booster, $180 million in FY-15 for one booster and $360 million in FY-16 for two boosters. DOD should fund the program sufficiently or demonstrate why the additional launchers are unnecessary, OMB writes.
"Moreover, the Air Force's proposed new multi-year, multi-core acquisition plan may not allow sufficient funding, or opportunity, for commercial launch providers to compete for satellite launches in later years," the passback states. "DOD should make a determined effort to include commercial competition in the outyears of its acquisition strategy." The guidance also expresses concern that the Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office have made different assumptions about launch efficiencies; OMB urges the two organizations to ensure that the budget assumptions are consistent.