The mass simulator version of the New Glenn rocket has been moved for testing in November 2021.
blue origin
The Pentagon announced the first winning bidder in its rocket launch contract sweepstakes on Thursday, with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin taking first place.
Blue Origin’s winning bid came as part of a contract awarded under the Department of Defense’s $5.6 billion National Security Space Launch Program.
A joint venture between Elon Musk’s SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (also known as ULA). lockheed martin and boeing – The contract was also awarded as part of the third multi-year phase of the NSSL programme.
Blue Origin, SpaceX and ULA did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
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Under the program, known as NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1, the three companies could compete for the contract until mid-2029.
ULA and SpaceX have already been competing for the contract under the previous NSSL Phase 2 version. With a two-phase launch order spanning a total of five years, the military assigned 26 missions worth $3.1 billion to ULA, while SpaceX received 22 missions worth $2.5 billion.
Not only Blue Origin Northrop GrummanPhase 2 was missed when the Pentagon selected ULA and SpaceX for the program in August 2020.
A Falcon Heavy rocket launches the USSF-67 mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 15, 2023.
SpaceX
But in Phase 3, the U.S. military is raising the stakes and broadening the field in the high-profile competition for Space Force mission contracts. Phase 3 is expected to see a total of 90 rocket launch orders, with separate Lane 1 and Lane 2 categories to allow more companies to bid.
Space Force described a “mutual fund” strategy to purchase launch vehicles from the company in Phase 3. The military split the program into two lanes, with one featuring the three companies performing the most demanding and expensive missions, and the other.
