A prominent House Democrat is urging the Defense Department to build up a more competitive space-launch industry, and he singled out the Air Force's plan to enter into a block-buy contract with the United Launch Alliance as "a bad and costly idea." In a March 12 speech at a satellite industry conference in Washington, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the ranking member on the House intelligence committee, argued that American companies offer...
