WASHINGTON — SpaceX has completed over 80 percent of the requirements for military space launch certification, and the Air Force says the company is "nearing completion" on the process — although at a slower rate than officials for both the company and service had projected.
The certification process, which will allow SpaceX to launch military space payloads programs under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, is now expected to be completed "no later than midyear," the service said in a statement attributed to Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, cCommander of the Space and Missile Systems Center.
Greaves praised SpaceX for its "innate ability to innovate and quickly respond to open items," and said the company is making "thorough efforts in moving towards an aggressive certification goal."
However, that midyear target represents a movement of goal posts, after officials had projected that certification would come by the end of 2014, a target date reiterated in December by Gen. John Hyten, head of Air Force Space Command.
A spokesperson for SpaceX indicated the company would respond soon to the Air Force statement.
SpaceX, led by former PayPal executive Elon Musk, has emerged as the first true competitor to the United Launch Alliance (ULA) in the EELV program. A joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, ULA has had a monopoly on Air Force space launch missions since its founding in 2005.
Even before certification is complete, SpaceX's influence has resulted in major changes at ULA, including the replacement of longtime president and CEO Michael Gass with Tory Bruno, a longtime Lockheed executive. Bruno has since hinted at a major reorganization for the company.
Certification has been a challenge for both SpaceX and the Air Force, something attributable, in part, to the clash of the Pentagon and Silicon Valley cultures. The Air Force is cautious when dealing with space launch, and particularly so with the first-of-its-kind new entrant certification process; Musk, meanwhile, has expressed deep dissatisfaction with howwho long the process is taking, at one point hinting that he believed some service officials were purposefully sabotaging the certification.
Wednesday's statement included a quote from Deborah Lee James, service secretary, noting that the Air Force will look at assessing ways to "streamline and improve" the certification process going forward. To that end, James is directing a review of the process by an "independent team."
Asked for more details about that independent review, Capt. Chris Hoyler, Air Force spokesman, said the service is "working through the details on the composition of the independent team, and we'll have more information on that soon. Once the written report is complete, the Air Force will release it, with the expectation being that it will come sometime in summer 2015."
Hyten confirmed in December that no other company has begun the EELV certification process, but noted that when ULA begins use of its new engine on the Atlas V vehicle, it too will need to go through a certification procedure.
Email: amehta@defensenews.com | Twitter: @AaronMehta
Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.
