{"id":18046,"date":"2019-05-22T22:49:51","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T14:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/blue-origin-ula-and-northrop-grumman-weigh-in-on-multibillion-dollar-spacex-rocket-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2019-05-22T22:49:51","modified_gmt":"2019-05-22T14:49:51","slug":"blue-origin-ula-and-northrop-grumman-weigh-in-on-multibillion-dollar-spacex-rocket-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/blue-origin-ula-and-northrop-grumman-weigh-in-on-multibillion-dollar-spacex-rocket-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Origin, ULA and Northrop Grumman weigh in on multibillion-dollar SpaceX rocket lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Blue Origin\u2019s BE-4 rocket engine, shown here during a test firing in Texas, is being developed for use on Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket as well as United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan rocket. (Blue Origin Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture and subsidiaries of United Launch Alliance and Northrop Grumman are intervening in a SpaceX lawsuit protesting $2.3 billion in rocket development awards to those three companies.<\/p>\n

In a redacted version of the lawsuit, originally filed last Friday and made public today, SpaceX says it was unfairly passed over when the awards were made last October \u2014 and disparages the three companies\u2019 rocket projects.<\/p>\n

According to the court documents, government lawyers informed Blue Origin and United Launch Services on Monday that they were interested parties in SpaceX\u2019s lawsuit. As a result, Blue Origin and United Launch Services filed motions in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to intervene in the suit on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman\u2019s subsidiary, Orbital ATK, followed suit.<\/p>\n

All three companies said neither SpaceX nor the government objected to their taking part. Today the judge in the case, Lydia Kay Griggsby, granted the motions from Blue Origin and United Launch Services to intervene, and laid out a schedule for filing briefs that runs through Sept. 18. \u201cOral arguments, if warranted, shall be held at a time and date to be determined in consultation with the parties,\u201d Griggsby wrote. Update for May 23: The judge granted Northrop Grumman\u2019s motion to intervene as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read motions filed by SpaceX, Blue Origin, United Launch Services and Orbital ATK.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

SpaceX\u2019s bid protest has to do with a series of Air Force contracts that support the development of Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket, ULA\u2019s Vulcan rocket and Northrop Grumman\u2019s OmegA rocket for future national security launches.<\/p>\n

The maximum allotments for work through 2024 are $500 million for Blue Origin, $967 million for ULA, and $791.6 million for Northrop Grumman (through the subsidiary formerly known as Orbital ATK). Each company was allotted $109 million from funds for fiscal year 2018.<\/p>\n

SpaceX was left out of the contract awards. In an ethics report filed last month, the Pentagon\u2019s inspector general noted that the issue came up during a chat that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had with acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan last December. At the time, Musk reportedly acknowledged that SpaceX wrote a poor proposal that \u201cmissed the mark.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, in the 79-page filing made public today, SpaceX says it was given short shrift by the Air Force and was more deserving of receiving an award than the other three companies. It said it could provide most of the services sought for national security launches at a significantly lower price, although the filing was redacted to conceal just how much lower.<\/p>\n

SpaceX also said the three projects that received development funds were \u201cpaper\u201d rockets that have not yet been built or flown. In contrast, SpaceX proposed using its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets for most of the launches being planned. It said it could handle the heaviest rockets on the proposed manifest, in the Air Force\u2019s Category C classification, with its Starship super-heavy-lift rocket starting in 2025.<\/p>\n

According to the filing, the Air Force listed reasons why SpaceX was passed over, but SpaceX disputed the rationale. References to the specific reasons were blacked out in the redacted complaint. However, based on the context, those reasons may have had something to do with SpaceX\u2019s ability to meet schedules, plus questions about Starship\u2019s readiness. In recent months, SpaceX has accelerated its work on Starship prototypes \u2014 and last October\u2019s decision may have had something to do with that.<\/p>\n

SpaceX says that it has been working through an internal appeal process with the Air Force, which ended last month with a rejection of the appeal.<\/p>\n

Now the Air Force is looking ahead to a new phase of the launch services program, which is aimed at following through on a congressional mandate to stop using rockets powered by Russian-built RD-180 engines. Such engines are used on ULA\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket, and so the Air Force has to come up with a replacement.<\/p>\n

In the next phase of the program, the Air Force plans to fund only two rocket programs. Blue Origin executives have already voiced concerns that the Air Force\u2019s timetable puts their company at a disadvantage. Blue Origin\u2019s BE-4 rocket engine, which is still going through testing, is destined to power its own New Glenn rocket as well as ULA\u2019s Vulcan rocket. Northrop Grumman, meanwhile, has been selected to provide solid rocket boosters for the Vulcan.<\/p>\n