Battle over space launch heating up.

• Author: Harper, Jon

The fight over who will provide space launch services to the Air Force --and which rocket engine will be used to put payloads into orbit--is in full burn, pitting the Pentagon, Congress and members of industry against one another. The stakes are high, as the outcome will shape the Defense Department's acquisition path and the future of the launch market.

As tensions between Washington and Moscow continue to simmer, U.S. lawmakers have directed the Air Force to move away from using the Russian-made RD-180 engine in its evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV) program.

"We are working diligently towards that objective... [but] there's a lot of work to be done by industry," said Maj. Gen. Roger Teague, director of space programs in the office of the assistant secretary for acquisition, during a budget briefing with reporters at the Pentagon. "To get off of that [RD-180] engine it's important that first our U.S. technical industrial base build itself back up."

Blue Origin--owned by Amazon, com founder Jeff Bezos--and Aerojet Rocketdyne are both developing engines that could compete to replace the RD-180 on United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket. ULA, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, has been the sole provider of space launch services for the Air Force's EELV program.

In March, Aerojet Rocketdyne was awarded a $ 115 million contract for development of its AR1 engine. Options for additional work could increase the total U.S. government investment to as much as $536 million.

The company is on track for certification and delivery in 2019, said Eileen Drake, president and CEO of Aerojet Rocketdyne. The AR1 will be less expensive than the RD-180, she told National Defense.

"Our ability to use past proven technologies along with additive manufacturing and a lot of the low-cost solutions that we've come up with has enabled us to... [offer] the lowest risk and the lowest cost to the taxpayer," she said.

Some analysts are skeptical that U.S. engines will match the RD-180 when it comes to cost and performance.

"I don't know that you're going to be able to do that cheaper than the Russians do," said Marco Caceres, director of space studies at the Teal Group, a defense and aerospace consultancy based in Fairfax, Virginia. "I don't think we're going to come up with an RD-180 equivalent."

It may not be feasible for U.S. industry to develop something with capabilities or cost points that are close to the RD-180 within the next five years, as the Air Force desires, he said.

United Launch Alliance is responsible for doing interface work for the AR1 and Blue Origin's BE-4. Brett Tobey, while recently serving as ULA's vice president of engineering, said the company...