RocketLab Electron lifts off from Wallops

Electron lifts off from Launch Complex 2 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia Jan. 24. The mission was Rocket Lab’s first launch from US soil. (Image Credit – Brady Kenniston)

WASHINGTON — The Space Force has revealed a new plan to broaden its pool of national security launch providers for the first time to small launch companies that can send satellites only to low and medium Earth orbits — opening the door to increased competition for billions of dollars in contracts between fiscal 2025 and 2034.

The new strategy is encompassed in a pair of draft request for proposals (RFPs), issued by Space Systems Command late Thursday, for Phase III of its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program. The draft lays out a two-part procurement plan, that would see separate contracting “tracks” for small- and medium-sized rockets with limited orbital range/payload capacity, and larger “high energy” rockets capable of reaching geosynchronous orbit (GEO, 36,000 kilometers above Earth) and carrying heavier payloads, such as those built by current NSSL contractors United Launch Alliance (ULA) and SpaceX.

“We developed an acquisition strategy consisting of a dual-lane approach that provides access to diverse commercially available systems, increases resiliency through alternate launch sites and streamlined integration timelines, allows annual on-ramping of emerging launch providers and systems, secures launch capacity, enables supply chain stability, and enhances affordability for the most stressing National Security Space missions,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, Space Force’s program executive officer for Assured Access to Space, in the service’s press release announcing the draft RFP.

The issue of who can compete for NSSL Phase 3 has been contentious, with intense lobbying by both sides of the launch industry paradigm and in-fighting among lawmakers representing them. In the end, however, the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, asked the Space Force to develop a Phase 3 acquisition strategy that takes advantage of the burgeoning commercial launch sector.

Meanwhile, the Space Force has been trying to convince the Pentagon to allow it maximum flexibility in future launch services and integration contracting so it can provide tailored launch options for the myriad new types of missions it envisions for the future — such as patrolling the vast volumes of space in the cislunar region between the Earth’s outer orbit and the Moon and the use of smaller satellites in LEO and MEO.

Under the current NSSL Phase 2, the competition was limited to only those companies with more capable rockets and mission systems. ULA, which is a joint venture between defense behemoths Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and SpaceX in 2020 were each awarded Phase 2 NSSL contracts, with ULA nabbing 60 percent and SpaceX 40 percent of military and Intelligence Community launch missions for the five-year duration. While the contracts run through 2025, actual launches are budgeted two years in advance — so the last launches under the Phase 2 contract will take place in 2027.

The new draft RFP signals a win for the Space Force, and for those who lost in the last phase of NSSL (i.e. Blue Origin) and non-traditional launch providers, such as Rocket Lab.

Under the plan, “Lane 1” acquisition “will use a multiple Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract open to all qualified bidders,” including those not able to reach “all NSSL orbits,” the draft RFP elaborates. Lane 1 also “will have annual on-ramping opportunities” for emerging providers. Finally, it will cover procurements “from FY25 to FY34 consisting of a five-year base ordering period plus a five-year option.”

The draft RFP explains that “Lane 1 serves more risk-tolerant space vehicles launching to commercially addressable orbits. Task orders for launch services are competed on an annual basis among all IDIQ awardees. The government may order missions individually or in blocks.”

Under “Lane 2,” Space Force will continue with its traditional NSSL contracting methodology, selecting two contractors to provide launches to “more stressing orbits” under competitively awarded FFP ID/IQ contracts based on “best value” and “next best value,” the draft RFP says. The ordering period will cover FY25 to FY29. “Lane 2 also includes annual Launch Service Support to cover NSS-unique costs,” the draft adds.

Space Force plans release of final version of the RFPs for both procurements “in 3rd Quarter FY23 with award for Lane 1 and Lane 2 contracts targeting 4th Quarter FY24.”