In recent written testimony to a US House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees the military, the senior official responsible for purchasing launches for national security missions blistered one of the country\u2019s two primary rocket providers.<\/p>\n
The remarks from Major General Stephen G. Purdy, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, concerned United Launch Alliance and its long-delayed development of the large Vulcan rocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ULA Vulcan program has performed unsatisfactorily this past year,\u201d Purdy said in written testimony during a May 14 hearing before the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. This portion of his testimony did not come up during the hearing, and it has not been reported publicly to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cMajor issues with the Vulcan have overshadowed its successful certification resulting in delays to the launch of four national security missions,\u201d Purdy wrote. \u201cDespite the retirement of highly successful Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, the transition to Vulcan has been slow and continues to impact the completion of Space Force mission objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n
It has widely been known in the space community that military officials, who supported Vulcan with development contracts for the rocket and its engines that exceeded $1 billion, have been unhappy with the pace of the rocket\u2019s development. It was originally due to launch in 2020 and ferry critical national security missions shortly afterward. But this displeasure has largely remained out of the public eye.<\/p>\n
However, behind closed doors, missives have been flying. About a year ago, another Air Force official, Frank Calvelli, wrote to ULA and said he was \u201cgrowing concerned\u201d about the company\u2019s ability to scale manufacturing of the Vulcan rocket and meet the military\u2019s cadence needs. Calvelli noted that ULA had a backlog of more than two dozen national security missions that were sitting on the ground due to delays.<\/p>\n
,<\/p>\n
Some of the displeasure was apparent in April when the US military announced that it would ask SpaceX to launch a plurality of its missions during the next round of national security launches, reversing the preeminent role that ULA had held for the last two decades.<\/p>\n
ULA retired its Delta IV Heavy rocket in April 2024, and the handful of Atlas V rockets that remain are committed to other missions. This has left the Air Force dependent on SpaceX, with its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy vehicles, as the only provider of launch services to get its most expensive and highest priority satellites into orbit.<\/p>\n
In his testimony, Purdy said ULA completed certification of the initial variant of its Vulcan rocket for military launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 25, but added that \u201copen work\u201d remains. The military and the company are currently working through \u201crisk reduction plans\u201d to limit the chances of an issue with the first launch of a military payload on Vulcan.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo address these challenges ULA has increased its engineering resources and management focus to resolve design issues,\u201d Purdy wrote. \u201cGovernment and Federally Funded Research and Development Center personnel have increased involvement in technical and program management challenges.<\/p>\n
Vulcan\u2019s first military mission, USSF-106, currently has a no earlier than launch date of July 2025, Purdy wrote. These outstanding risks will ultimately be assessed during a Flight Readiness Review a week or two prior to this launch.<\/p>\n
At the end of his written testimony, Purdy emphasized that he expected ULA to do better. As part of his job as the Service Acquisition Executive for Space (SAE), Purdy noted that he has been tasked to transform space acquisition and to become more innovative.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor these programs, the prime contractors must re-establish baselines, establish a culture of accountability, and repair trust deficit to prove to the SAE that they are adopting the acquisition principles necessary to deliver capabilities at speed, on cost and on schedule,\u201d Purdy said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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