Trying To Catch SpaceX

[Valin]

Strategy Page:

May 2, 2016:

 

In March 2016 the American ULA (United Launch Alliance) sent a resupply vehicle carrying 7.2 tons of cargo to the ISS (International Space Station). An Atlas 5 EELV rocket was used and was the heaviest load this model had taken up so far. This was the third ULA launch for 2016 and the 106th since ULA was created in 2006. ULA uses two launchers that were originally designed for military purposes and later adapted as satellite launchers. The Atlas 5 is a 334 ton rocket that can (depending on model) put 29 tons into low orbit and 13 tons into GTO orbit. One potential problem here is that Atlas 5 is dependent on Russian RD-180 rocket motors. The Delta 4 can weigh up to 733 tons and put 22 tons into low orbit and 13 tons into GTO orbit. The Delta 4 uses American made engines.

 

The ULA monopoly has been threatened by SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) a private company that had its first successful commercial launch in 2013. SpaceX also recently demonstrated successful operation of a booster rocket that can return and land under its own power. This will cut the cost of putting anything into orbit and is a major breakthrough in launcher technology.

 

More bad news for ULA came in late April when the U.S. Air Force agreed to pay SpaceX $83 million to launch a new GPS satellite. That price is 40 percent lower than what ULA charges and if SpaceX succeeds they will get more such work as the air force is putting over a dozen new GPS satellites in orbit in the near future. In response ULA is scrambling to cut costs, innovate and become competitive.

 

(Snip)