After “last remnants” of non-contested launches, Air Force seeks competition

[smp]

From Ars Technica:

"This week, the US Air Force made a couple of announcements about future launches of the Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle as well as the Atlas V rocket. Both vehicles, built and launched by United Launch Alliance, once held a monopoly on the launch of US national security satellites.

But now that is changing for good, said Col. Robert Bongiovi, director of Launch Enterprise for the Air Force, during a conference call with reporters. "These are the last remnants of our sole source contracts," Bongiovi said. "We look forward to embracing the competitive landscape that we have worked hard with industry to create." "

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/10 ... contracts/

IMO, competition is always a good thing.

smp

[GCoyote]

ULA has IMHO kept the costs of national security payloads artificially high by operating as a cartel. How the cost will evolve from this point on bears watching.

[smp]

ULA has IMHO kept the costs of national security payloads artificially high by operating as a cartel. How the cost will evolve from this point on bears watching.

Agreed, whole-heartedly! Competition is the best way to bring cost down.

smp