When it was announced in early May, the United Launch Alliance (ULA), the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture to build EELVs, looked like it would win wide acceptance from the government. Now, a Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) suggests some obstacles ahead for ULA. Part of the problem is a dispute between the two companies on how to recover costs for their respective launch vehicles. However, the article also notes that both the Air Force and the FTC haven’t received enough information about the joint venture from the companies; both must approve the venture before it can go forward. One issue the article does not address is the effect, if any, SpaceX’s plans to develop the EELV-class Falcon 9 vehicle would have on the formation of the joint venture and its required government approval. Of course, SpaceX is still a long way from actually proving it can build and fly the Falcon 9 at a much lower price than the Atlas 5 and Delta 4.
(A funny goof near the end of the article: “Boeing and Lockheed are squabbling over Boeing’s bid to recoup $1 billion or more of the total it invested in earlier years to develop the Delta IV family of rockets. Lockheed spent considerably less than Boeing to develop its rival Saturn V rockets…″. Oh, if only.)
When it was announced in early May, the United Launch Alliance (ULA), the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture to build EELVs, looked like it would win wide acceptance from the government. …
Issues: The Atlas V and the Delta IV are extremely similar, except that they can’t share the same launch tower. ( Or could they? ) Why not down select to just one?
Reply: Keep both missiles alive to avoid dependence on one vender.
Reply to that: Why not choose the best of the two missiles, and second-source manufacturing of the better missile to the loser of the Atlas-Delta downselection?