By Doug Cameron
The U.S. Air Force said Wednesday that it expects to clear Elon
Musk's space venture to launch satellites for the Pentagon by
mid-2015, six months later than previously planned.
Mr. Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, has
been aggressively pursuing the multibillion-dollar market for
military and intelligence rocket launches that is dominated by a
joint venture between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp.
SpaceX resorted to suing the Pentagon in an effort to break up
an $11 billion, multiyear deal for the joint venture, known as the
United Launch Alliance LLC, or ULA. That case continues.
Congress has also been pushing the Pentagon to open up the
market to competition following fierce criticism of the high cost
of launches by ULA, though the joint venture has been taking steps
to reduce them.
The Air Force on Tuesday said it had missed its own Dec. 31
deadline to certify a new entrant, and on Wednesday identified
SpaceX, which it said had met more than 80% of the
requirements.
"We expect to certify SpaceX no later than mid year, as we
remain very optimistic since SpaceX continues to demonstrate the
innate ability to innovate and quickly respond to open items." Lt.
Gen. Samuel Greaves, commander of the Space and Missile Systems
Center, said in a statement.
The Air Force has said it is spending $60 million to certify the
SpaceX rockets, and though it gave no reason for the delay, said it
would take a closer look at its certification process for the
future.
The prospect of competition in space launches has been energized
by concerns that ULA's reliance on Russian-made rocket engines
could leave some U.S. military and spy satellites grounded if the
venture can't secure more supplies or spares. ULA has said it has
enough engines to last two years, and is developing a new, totally
U.S.-made rocket engine in partnership with Blue Origin LLC, a
venture founded by Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Jeff Bezos.
SpaceX had no immediate comment on the Air Force announcement.
Separately, the firm said a commercial rocket launch postponed
minutes before blast off on Tuesday could be rescheduled for Friday
if the technical problems can be resolved.
Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com
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