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Science & Technology |
SpaceX, U.S. Air Force To Enter Mediation over $11 billion ULA Block Buy |
2015-01-14 |
In a Jan. 13 order, Judge Susan Braden denied ULAs motion to dismiss and said SpaceX and the Air Force would begin mediation this month. The order also said the Air Force has told the court it would not make a final decision on certain launch contract awards until later in 2015. The names of the missions and the target date for the contract awards were redacted in the court documents. One pending contract, the award of which industry sources recently said was imminent, is to launch a satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX and ULA of Denver bid for the contract in August, but SpaceX must win Air Force certification to launch national security missions before it can be eligible to win. That certification, until recently expected by the end of 2014, now is anticipated by mid-2015. The delay has led to speculation that ULA would win the contract by default. The Air Force has advised the court that it will not make a final decision about the [REDACTED] missions until [REDACTED], 2015, the order said. In addition, the Air Force will also make another mission available for competition in the near future, the court documents said. The name of that mission was also redacted. I suspect part of the judge's gag order on this has been lowered. Go to Bloomburg and listen to Musk's interview. I doubt he would have dared to give it will a full gag order in place. He even tells a story about the judge telling the Justice Dept lawyer that he was representing the American People and not a representative of Boeing/LockMart/ULA! He took it further and announced a mass production factor to make lots of sats in Seattle. There would be offices in this building for Seattle rocket workers (as compared to the sat workers) who didn't want to move to LA. and yes he had hired people away from Boeing and Lockmart and would continue to do so. He would NOT hire AirForce Procurement Officers who worked on contracts he bid on. He could afford to enter the satellite business as he would be using current tech and launching prototypes on his SpaceX reused rockets to verify new satellite ideas. |
Posted by:3dc |
#10 Elon Musk is not Hank Reardon. That's actually kinda funny! I do think it's cool that a private company is in the space biz. |
Posted by: SteveS 2015-01-14 19:11 |
#9 Instapundit/TownHall is becoming more of an establishment oriented outlet than it used to be. |
Posted by: OldSpook 2015-01-14 14:46 |
#8 Latest from PACER: Quote 01/12/2015 181 **SEALED**REPLY to Response to Motion re 162 MOTION to Dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) and response to plaintiff's request for a preliminary injunction, 75 MOTION to Dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) Portions of Plaintiff's Complaint Defendant's Combined Reply in Support of its Motions to Dismiss, Reply in Support of Rule 52.1 Judgment on the Administrative Record, and Opposition to Plaintiff's Request for Injunctive Relief, filed by USA. (Attachments: # 1 Appendix Part 1, # 2 Appendix Part 2, # 3 Appendix Part 3, # 4 Appendix Part 4, # 5 Appendix Part 5, # 6 Appendix Part 6, # 7 Appendix Part 7, # 8 Appendix Part 8)(Sverdlov, Alexander) (Entered: 01/12/2015) 01/13/2015 182 **SEALED**ORDER denying 176 Motion to Dismiss Signed by Judge Susan G. Braden. (ct) Copy to parties. (Entered: 01/13/2015) 01/13/2015 183 REDACTED ORDER DENYING JANUARY 7, 2015 MOTION TO DISMISS Signed by Judge Susan G. Braden. (ct) Copy to parties. (Entered: 01/13/2015) Document 183 is attached. Apparently "ULA insists that enactment of the NDAA and specific reference to DoD’s payment obligations under the 002 and 003 Contracts “ratify” or render them lawful." The judge denied this motion because Congress can only ratify unlawful agency conduct if they're aware of it and most of this case is under seal and hence Congress isn't aware of it. The second to last paragraph of #183 has some info on what will happen soon: Quote On June 30, 2014 and November 25, 2014, the Government filed Motions To Dismiss. Dkt. Nos. 75, 162. On December 19, 2014, SpaceX filed a Motion For Judgment On The Administrative Record under RCFC 52.1(c). Dkt. No. 171. Briefing is now complete on all of these motions. The court has advised the parties that it will not rule on pending motions for jurisdictional discovery or on the merits until the mediation, scheduled to commence this month, is concluded. In turn, the Air Force has advised the court that it will not make a final decision about the [REDACTED] missions until [REDACTED], 2015. Dkt. No. 166, at 3, 11. In addition, the [REDACTED] has been scheduled as a competitive mission to be awarded in the near future. AR SMC 54196. |
Posted by: 3dc 2015-01-14 11:50 |
#7 Elon Musk is not Hank Reardon. I got banned from instapisshead's comments for pointing that out... Why so hostile? It's unlikely that Glenn is the person that banned you. PJMedia has moderators. |
Posted by: Unonter Bluetooth3165 2015-01-14 09:47 |
#6 Elon Musk is not Hank Reardon. I got banned from instapisshead's comments for pointing that out... |
Posted by: M. Murcek 2015-01-14 08:28 |
#5 Yeah, I guess, they're afraid that we'll take some of the huge gravy train they have exclusive access to, or that it's not going to be as big. The truth is they'll still be the primary supplier for a long time. We're just talking about taking some portion of that, and I think, even in the very long term, the defense department is likely to want to retain two companies. |
Posted by: 3dc 2015-01-14 01:16 |
#4 The justice department is the one defending the defense department. They shouldn't be defending the defense department, this is crazy, they should care about justice |
Posted by: 3dc 2015-01-14 01:14 |
#3 I mean, Boeing and Lockheed make decent rockets but three times more is really crazy, and then the main engine is Russian and the engine maker is majority owned by the Kremlin, directly, there's not even a fig leaf between. So, why are we sending hundreds of millions of taxpayer money to fund the Russian war machine? In the interests of national security, we're sending hundreds of millions of dollars to a country that is doing terrible things and certainly not acting in our best interests. This makes no sense, it's like a Joseph Heller novel. Ya know, it's so crazy. |
Posted by: 3dc 2015-01-14 01:12 |
#2 ... |
Posted by: 3dc 2015-01-14 01:11 |
#1 The Bloomburg interview - worth listening to all 25 mins Transcript |
Posted by: 3dc 2015-01-14 01:05 |