The competition to acquire contracts from the US Govt. for space launch support services heated up the past 2 weeks.
The long time joint venture of Lockheed and Boeing called ULA (United Launch Alliance) laid off 12 senior executives on May 15th and announced a complete reorganization of the company.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/15/us-lockheed-boeing-ula-idUSKBN0O029D20150515 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/15/us-lockheed-boeing-ula-idUSKBN0O029D20150515)
11 days later, SpaceX announced that the US Air Force had certified them as an authorized bidder for all future space launch contracts.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/26/us-usa-military-space-idUSKBN0OB2M020150526 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/26/us-usa-military-space-idUSKBN0OB2M020150526)
The first big test of the competitors will be in June when the bid requests for the new GPSIII sat system will go out. The new GPS system was designed and built by Lockheed.
Can ULA match SpaceX pricing? Especially when SpaceX undercuts them by as much as 50%
This means more launches from Florida in our future.
Can't wait to see some horizontal launches from Cecil too.