SASC Completes Markup: Digs in on Replacing RD-180, Not Convinced About DMSP-20

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) completed markup of its version of the FY2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) today.   Most of the subcommittee markups, including that of the Strategic Forces subcommittee, and full committee markup were closed, so the release of a committee fact sheet and a press conference by chairman John McCain (R-AZ) today provide the first public view of what it contains.  Space programs, especially launch vehicles, warranted considerable attention.

McCain and others on the committee, including Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), have been leaders in Congress to move the Air Force away from using Russia’s RD-180 rocket engines.  RD-180s power the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA’s) Atlas V rocket.  McCain also has been a crucial supporter of SpaceX’s determination to compete against ULA for launching national security satellites.  SASC led efforts in last year’s NDAA to set a deadline of 2019 for using RD-180s, which the Air Force is seeking to modify so it has more time to build a new American engine, integrate it into a launch vehicle, test and certify it for launching national security satellites.

The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) went along with the Air Force request in its version of the FY2016 NDAA, which is being debated by the House right now.  SASC did not follow suit.   Instead, it “revalidates” Section 1608 of last year’s NDAA, which sets the deadline, although waivers are allowed under certain circumstances.  The SASC bill “limits the use of Russian rocket engines, allowing for as few as zero but as many as nine,” according to the press release.  The bill has other provisions aimed at ending U.S. reliance on Russian engines as soon as possible.

McCain said at the press conference, as he has in other venues, that he does not want American dollars going to “cronies” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Today he said Putin is “dismembering a country as we speak,” referring to Ukraine.  (His comments are at the very end of the press conference).  He also called the issue of the rocket engines and ULA a “classic example of the military-industrial complex” and said that SpaceX has said it can have a replacement for RD-180s by 2017, a probable reference to SpaceX’s plans for its Falcon Heavy rocket, which is expected to make its first flight this year, but it would take some time for it to be certified to launch national security satellites (which are very expensive and critically necessary so launch failures are not easily tolerated).

SASC also expressed caution about DOD’s plans to launch the last of its legacy Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites. The Air Force decided last year that it did not need DMSP-20, but changed its mind this year and now wants to launch it.  At an April 29 hearing, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James and Commander of Air Force Space Command Gen. John Hyten said several factors led to their revised decision even though it will cost “millions of dollars”: the Europeans have decided not to replace a geostationary weather satellite DOD has been using to support its operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East, it will give the Air Force more time to decide on the future of its weather satellite program, it will provide an additional competitive space launch opportunity, and people within the national security community who deal with weather issues on a day to day basis “very, very much want to see that satellite launched.”

SASC was not convinced.   The bill prohibits the use of funds for the DMSP program or for launch of DMSP-20 until the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that “non-material or lower cost solutions are insufficient.”

On other matters, SASC  —

• approves $20 million for the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office, “an increase of $13.5 million to match the previous year funding level”
• requires the President to establish an interagency process to develop a policy to deter adversaries in space
• requires the Secretary of Defense to designate an individual to be the Principal Space Control Advisor
• establishes a council to “review and be responsible for” DOD’s positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) enterprise (GPS is a PNT system)
• requires a plan for consolidating acquisition of commercial communication satellite services
• requires an analysis of alternatives for replacing the Wideband Global Satellite System