The NRO is Busy, Busy, Busy

Busy hands are happy hands (within reason) I often say. Therefore, the NRO should have happy hands based on the two ops they have coming up. The link speculates about the NROL-32 and 49 missions which will ride on a pair of Delta IVs and are in the launch queue for October and January 2011 [...]

Boeing, United Launch Alliance, and DoD To Grapple Over $271 Million

Well, this will be interesting. Stand by for some alphabet soup. First, the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) says Boeing needs to reimburse $72 million it has already received. Next, DCAA says the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA, not to be confused with DCAA) should notify the joint Boeing-Lockheed Martin venture called the United Launch [...]

Revised USAF Launch Manifest Strategy

I think the new strategy–basically to match a spacecraft to a boosters six to twelve months out based on spacecraft readiness–is enabled by the studly to-orbit capabilities of the Delta IV and Atlas V EELV vehicles. I’m guessing both families of boosters have enough margin that they can wait until later in the scheduling process [...]

Exploration plan doesn’t fit in current budget, panel says

NASA is underfunded. They need an extra $50 billion or so across the next ten years to do what they’re supposed to do. Given the anticipated national-level direction and funding trend for this sort of discretionary endeavor, NASA should expect to be riding on a man-rated version of the Delta IV and cancel their Ares [...]