Mary-Louise Hoffman
United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno has said the company seeks to retire the medium-lift version of its Delta IV rocket between 2018 and 2019, Defense News reported Sunday.
Aaron Mehta writes Bruno told Defense News during a March 3 interview the company identified cost as a challenge in having both the Delta IV and Atlas V launch vehicle lines.
“The only reason we have both platforms today is because the government policy was to have two, and we are the only guys so we have to have two,” he added, according to the report.
“That policy has changed now and it says two providers.”
The U.S. Air Force expects to certify SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket by June.
He also noted to the publication that ULA would continue to offer the Delta rocket if the military service requested it.
The company has decided to invest money to develop a new rocket engine after Congress approved a measure to ban future U.S. acquisition of the Russian-made RD-180, which is used to power the Atlas in military space launches, according to Defense News.
Mehta reports the House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday to hear testimony from Bruno and SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell on space access issues.
