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    The Pentagon seems to be fed up with ULA’s rocket delays
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    The Pentagon seems to be fed up with ULA’s rocket delays

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    8 Comments

    1. Ormusn2o on

      I can’t believe we went from 4 rockets to no rockets at all from ULA, at a time when demand on launches is the highest it has ever been. I know it’s due to cost savings, and Vulcan is cheaper than previous rockets but to have such a big hole in launch capability is unimaginable.

    2. ChuckJA on

      SpaceX is becoming an absolutely vital and indispensable service provider to the US Government.

    3. enzo32ferrari on

      Originally I had thought that Boeing and Lockheed should’ve sold some equity in ULA for venture funds and really let them off the leash but now I’m not so sure ULA would even know what to do with that extra capital. The legacy space culture and mindset just might be too engrained for ULA to move faster. Doesn’t even have to be SpaceX-fast either.

    4. ninjanoodlin on

      I wonder how much this stems from all the post Cold War mergers.

      Had we maintained a LM vs Boeing launch vehicle competition would we be in a better position now? But I suppose the market wasn’t large enough to sustain both companies

    5. DNathanHilliard on

      Competition is nice, but there comes a point in time where the military needs to have their stuff put up there. ULA just isn’t doing it.

    6. 50Shekel on

      Ula has been a mess forever. Really letting (and has let) SpaceX run the show

    7. joepublicschmoe on

      Guess ULA can’t use “where are my engines Jeff” as an excuse anymore 😀

    8. funwithtentacles on

      How much of this has to do with Boeing and Lockheed Martin fucking themselves over by either firing their most knowledgeable engineers or underpaying the staff they’ve got left?

      Boeing not having enough staff in their space industry ventures has been a rather well known issue and part of what tanked the SLS as well.

      I don’t know enough to say whether the same thing is true for Lockheed Martin, but Boeing over promising and under delivering isn’t really anything new.

      Their short-term profit maximizing strategies are biting them in the ass…

      It’s just a shame that once again it’s likely Musk that going to profit…