It’s not enough that they have to screw up human spaceflight; now they want to cripple ULA and military launch as well:
“The United States Government (USG) must have a hands-on, decision-making role… in any decision made by United Launch Alliance to down-select engines on its proposed Vulcan space launch system, especially where one of the technologies is unproven at the required size and power,” the letter states. “If ULA plans on requesting hundreds of millions of dollars from the USG for development of its launch vehicle and associated infrastructure, then it is not only appropriate but required that the USG have a significant role in the decision-making concerning the vehicle.” The letter then goes on to say the Air Force should not give any additional funding to ULA, other than for current launch vehicles, until the company provides “full access, oversight of, and approval rights over decision-making” in its choice of contractors for the engines on Vulcan
Vulcan, by definition, cannot use the AR1. It’s a methane vehicle. AR1 means continuing to use the Atlas V, which can’t compete with SpaceX (or Blue Origin’s reusable New Glenn). This doesn’t hurt Blue Origin that much, because its main use for the BE-4 is for its own vehicle, but it would be devastating for ULA if they’re forced by politics to stick with an uncompetitive launch system to please the Alabama delegation.
Although both Rogers and Thornberry are members of the House Armed Services Committee, it is difficult to avoid ascribing at least some political motives to the letter. In January, Aerojet Rocketdyne said it would produce the AR1 rocket engine in Huntsville, Alabama, creating 100 new jobs near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Already, another Huntsville company, Dynetics, has become a subcontractor for the engine’s main propulsion system. (A spokesman for Rogers didn’t not reply to a request for comment).
Politics in space hardware procurement? Say it ain’t so!
Meh. Live by the teat, die by the teat. Bummer that it may kill a potentially great company, but those engineers & technicians aren’t going to drop off the face of the Earth. They’ll go work for more productive suitors.
Geez. The Corporate State at its worst. Can’t ULA even device which supplier to use? Is Congress trying to turn this into another design by political committee rocket like SLS?
Thornberry and Rogers are both Republicans, fake right wingers practicing their usual hypocrisy preaching free markets – except when free markets don’t suit them. Ya know, from what I’ve read the Republican are worse porkers than Democrats.
“Ya know, from what I’ve read the Republican are worse porkers than Democrats.”
Some are, because they are first and foremost neither Republican nor Democrats, but are LBJians. The idea for NASA was started by LBJ, as a political issue to get him the WH in the 1960 election. These people may have given up on the Party of Slavery, but they retain the impressions of spaceflight LBJ generated in the South’s political community, that NASA is for getting them elected!
Some are, because they are first and foremost neither Republican nor Democrats, but are LBJians.
There’s some truth to that.
Of course, pork politics in Congress long predates even LBJ. It’s just that he supercharged it, especially for aerospace.
NASA started in 1958, under Eisenhower.
“Ya know, from what I’ve read the Republican are worse porkers than Democrats.”
Some are, because they are first and foremost neither Republican nor Democrats, but are LBJians. The idea for NASA was started by LBJ, as a political issue to get him the WH in the 1960 election. These people may have given up on the Party of Slavery, but they retain the impressions of spaceflight LBJ generated in the South’s political community, that NASA, and all spaceflight, is for getting them elected! They don’t want to leave behind the feeling of being a big frog in a small pond, just so we can open that pond up to the rest of the universe.
Yup, far too many follow the Democrat zero sum ideology of “voting for their self interest” rather than doing what is best for their constituents or the country.
This is not to be confused with pursuing your desires.
I left a comment earlier that didn’t appear. It was a link to an Ace of Spades post about California’s high speed rail project. It’s entirely on-topic in this context.
I’ll try again without the link.
Engine selection and development is frankly too technical and too important to be left to the Air Force or other branches of the US government. Such decisions need to be turned over to a UN committee chaired by Senegal, Vietnam, or Honduras.