By Chris Forrester
Jason Mello (CEO, The KMC Group) moderated the Launch Service Procurement session at the Silicon Valley Space Week’s MilSat Symposium on October 24, and said understanding what the DoD needed was extremely important. “Launch is the key part.”
Clint Hunt (Director, Intelligence & Defense Programs, ULA) said that United Lauch Alliance had had a solid year and was looking forward to gaining authorisation for its system. He said the DoD found itself in a different position and while they might not be the major user of uplift services but they certainly have a vested interest in the services that are being placed into orbit today. They are users and customers, but the levers that the US government can pull gives the DoD an assured access to space. He said that ULA did not anticipate shifting away from Cape Canaveral or Vandenburg.
“Reusability is simply a tool, and ULA has a strategy to reuse part of the rocket’s architecture. Our large rocket was designed for major launch efforts. The DoD has been flexible, in our belief, and the launch community has responded,” said Hunt. He added that ULA would be happy to look at non-US launch sites but it had to make a very strong business case and clearly win regulatory acceptance.
Brian Rogers (VP/Global Launch Services, Rocket Lab) said it was targeting mid-2025 for its Neutron debut launch and had some 42 satellites in its production backlog. He said space is not one place. There are many different missions, and cost-reduction is a big piece of that. With Neutron we have picked a place in the market where we think we can play a part. There’s congestion, which we all understand, and launch facilities overseas could free up that congestion. Rocket Lab has its own launch site which is active every two weeks, and this could be appealing to the DoD as a one-stop shop. He added that the trends for flexibility are there, and that includes working together with our allies and this includes international.
Rogers praised SpaceX and the recent Starship launch and said the landing was especially spectacular. But Starship needed filling up and while it made sense for SpaceX to fill it with its satellites, it might not be a choice for everyone.
Spain-based Dr Anibal Villalba (Chief Strategy & Public Affairs Officer at PLD Space) which is a European rocket launch company (Miura) with a facility at Kourou in French Guiana. He said that reusability was key for his business and the consequential reduction in price should be appealing to the DoD. He said he felt there would be a demand for small launchers and also new spaceports are needed. “We need to be prepared for the threats and crisis to come.”
