Jane Edwards
United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno told Defense News in an interview published Monday about a request for proposals issued for the second phase of the Launch Service Procurement program.
The U.S. Air Force issued a solicitation in May for LSP Phase 2 and plans to award fixed-price contracts to two domestic commercial service providers that can launch national security payloads through 2027.
“That award will be made at the end of the year. It wouldn’t surprise me if it moved to the very beginning of ‘20, but I believe it’s scheduled for the end of 2019,†Bruno said of the LSP contract.
He said the company is in the final development phase on the new Vulcan rocket and expects Blue Origin to deliver the BE-4 engine for the launch vehicle in early 2020.
Bruno shared his views on the current launch rate for national security satellites and discussed the Department of Defense’s ideas on proliferated low-Earth orbit constellations.
