Lawmakers Spar Over RD-180 Ban, Air Force Launch Procurement

摘要

A Colorado lawmaker says the U.S. Air Force's first competitive launch procurement in a decade was "prejudiced" against incumbent United Launch Alliance, which has effectively ceded the work to archrival SpaceX. In a Nov. 25 news release, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), a member of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, which oversees military space, asked the Air Force to review and explain its bidding requirements for the 2018 launch of a GPS 3 navigation satellite. The announcement is the latest salvo in jockeying among lawmakers over the Defense Department's newly competitive satellite launching program.