A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rolls to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. | Credit: United Launch Alliance; NASA
Space News reported that the US Space Force Space Systems Command announced Friday that United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and SpaceX “were selected to participate in technology development projects to advance rocket engine testing and launch vehicle upper stages.” The contracts, awarded to the companies by the Space Enterprise Consortium, are “for prototypes that will be jointly funded by the government and the contractors under partnerships known as OTAs, or other transaction authority.” According to Space News, the “contracts were split between current national security launch providers SpaceX and ULA, and new entrants Blue Origin and Rocket Lab that might compete in 2024 for the next round of national security launch service contracts.” ULA will receive “$24.3 million for uplink command and control for Centaur 5, the upper stage of the company’s new rocket Vulcan Centaur.” Full Story (Space News)
