WASHINGTON \u2014 Space launch company executives said this week that as they serve an increasingly diverse mix of government and commercial customers, striking a balance between the demands of the two sectors can be a challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
United Launch Alliance, the long-time sole-source launch provider for U.S. Department of Defense missions, is experiencing this challenge in real-time as it expands into the commercial market, according to Clint Hunt, the company\u2019s director of intelligence and defense programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ULA won contracts from Amazon in 2021 and 2022 to fly 47 launches for the technology company\u2019s broadband internet constellation, Project Kuiper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are looking at the government requirements and the Kuiper customer requirements, seeing where there is commonality, seeing where there is a vergence and then trying to optimize between the two,\u201d Hunt said during a Feb. 9 panel at the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s Commercial Space Transportation conference in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hunt said while there\u2019s overlap between commercial and government launch needs, there are some areas of difference where it\u2019s hard to satisfy both. While he didn\u2019t expand on the specific needs, the government often places a greater emphasis on mission assurance, taking sometimes costly measures to eliminate risk. Commercial customers tend to favor efficiency and lower costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor some requirements . . . in our experience, you can get close, but you can\u2019t get quite get there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ULA\u2019s pursuit of more commercial business was a necessary move after DoD opened up its military launch business to national security newcomer SpaceX in 2020. As part of a five-year deal, the department awarded the company, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, a 40% share of its launches, with the remaining 60% going to ULA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ULA isn\u2019t the only launch company faced with a changing landscape. On the military side, the Space Force wants to create more opportunities for providers to compete for DoD business through its National Security Space Launch program and through new concepts that require rapid, responsive launch capabilities. The commercial sector is also positioned for major growth as companies developing large constellation of satellites begin looking for launch providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is not an insignificant moment in time with regard to the commercialization of launch services,\u201d said Caryn Schenewerk, vice president of regulatory affairs at Los Angeles-based Relativity Space. \u201cNo other country has this kind of commercial capability in existence for launch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Founded in 2015, Relativity is expected to launch its Terran 1 rocket for the first time later this month. The company is also developing a fully reusable rocket, Terran R, that is made entirely from 3D-printed parts. Schenewerk, who spoke on a panel with Hunt, said new entrants like Relativity must also consider the needs of both commercial and national security customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While most of Relativity\u2019s launches will be commercial, the company is keeping an eye on national security requirements, Schenewerk said, which means finding a balance between offering low-risk solutions and meeting efficiency needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe do want to achieve the mission goals just the same way the national security customer does \u2013 and we\u2019re incentivized to do that,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we\u2019re also incentivized to think about it in the most efficient way. So we\u2019re always doing that risk analysis and making risk-based decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As demand for commercial launch grows and DoD eyes opportunities for new providers, space launch companies must balance more diverse customer needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":25992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[60,12,31,6],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3307],"class_list":["post-32157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contracting","category-govcon","category-home","category-acquisition"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"I7F65XPNJBDWTNNU74E2J6YNCU","arc_canonical_url":"\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2023\/02\/10\/space-launch-firms-seek-to-balance-government-commercial-client-needs\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n