I don't suppose anyone has seen news about the announcement date other than the "this summer" statement from June, which if still true should mean sometime this month.
United Launch Services LLC, Centennial, Colorado, has been awarded task orders for $337,000,000 for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 contract. The NSSL Phase 2 contract is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery requirements contract for launch service procurements supporting launches planned between fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2027. This launch service contract includes early integration studies, launch service support, fleet surveillance, launch vehicle production, mission integration, mission launch operations, mission assurance, spaceflight worthiness, and mission unique activities for each mission. Work will be performed in Centennial, Colorado; Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida; and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and is expected to be completed March 2028. Future launch services and launch service support will be placed annually on subsequent task orders, and will be publically announced upon issuance. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition, and four offers were received. Fiscal 2020 space procurement funds in the amount of $337,000,000 will be obligated in the first order year for launch service and launch service support task orders to United Launch Services. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity (FA8811-20-D-0001). Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, California, has been awarded task orders for $316,000,000 for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 contract. The NSSL Phase 2 contract is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery requirements contract for launch service procurements supporting launches planned between fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2027. This launch service contract includes early integration studies, launch service support, fleet surveillance, launch vehicle production, mission integration, mission launch operations, mission assurance, spaceflight worthiness, and mission unique activities for each mission. Work will be performed in Hawthorne, California; Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida; and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and is expected to be completed March 2028. Future launch services and launch service support will be placed annually on subsequent task orders, and will be publically announced upon issuance. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition, and four offers were received. Fiscal 2020 space procurement funds in the amount of $316,000,000 will be obligated in the first order year for launch service and launch service support task orders to Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity (FA2211-20-D-0002).
BREAKING: The U.S. Air Force awards ULA and SpaceX with billions in 5 years of national security launch contracts, with the companies beating out Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman in the highly competitive NSSL Phase 2 program.
ULA will fly 60% of the NSSL missions, with SpaceX launching the remaining 40%.
The 60/40 split isn't mentioned in the press release. Is that stated elsewhere?
Quote from: yokem55 on 08/07/2020 09:21 pmThe 60/40 split isn't mentioned in the press release. Is that stated elsewhere?ULA 60, SpaceX 40. Surprsing absolutely no one:https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=48797.msg1978540#msg1978540
Wow. ULA = $337 million; SpaceX = $316 million. ULA gets 51.61% of the funding to perform 60% of the launches.
Will Roper, of the Air Force, says the Air Force expects to launch 30-34 rockets over a five year period from 2022-2026. Emphasizes that industry needs to be flexible in being able to accommodate more or fewer missions.
I've reached out to Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin for comment on the NSSL Phase 2 results.Notably, CEO Bob Smith told me that Blue Origin will absolutely continue to develop New Glenn even if it lost NSSL Phase 2.
Northrop Grumman: "We are disappointed by this decision. We are confident we submitted a strong proposal that reflected our extensive space launch experience and provided value to our customer..." cnbc.com/2020/08/07/spa…
Proud that @SpaceForceDOD has chosen an Alabama-made rocket to support our national security in space. Congratulations to everyone at @ulalaunch that has worked on the #VulcanCentaur. This award will help ensure we continue to lead in space.
twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1291852094119514112QuoteI've reached out to Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin for comment on the NSSL Phase 2 results.Notably, CEO Bob Smith told me that Blue Origin will absolutely continue to develop New Glenn even if it lost NSSL Phase 2.https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1291853962971361288
Blue was never seriously in this competition
Quote from: gongora on 08/07/2020 10:12 pmBlue was never seriously in this competitionIf Blue Origin wasn't seriously in the competition, why did they file a pre-award protest? It seems to me they were very serious about it and fought hard to win it.
The fact that ULA's bid uses Blue Origin-built engines would seem to give a lot of credibility to Blue Origin's ability to build products reliable enough to trust the most valuable national security payloads to.
What are the odds this is end of the line for OmegA? does it have enough commercial viability to finish development and enter the market?