U.S. Air Force sees next step for rocket launch contest by June

By Andrea Shalal COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force plans to ask satellite launch providers and engine makers next month or in early June to explain how they would partner up to develop a new launch vehicle powered by a U.S.-built engine, a top Air Force general said on Thursday. General John Hyten, who heads Air Force Space Command, told Reuters the Air Force was finalizing its strategy for spending $220 million in funds set aside by Congress in the fiscal 2015 budget, and would issue a request for proposals soon. Hyten said Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center aimed to publish the document by the end of May, but that might slip to early June since there was "a lot of work left to do." The Air Force is racing to end reliance on the Russian-built RD-180 engine that powers the first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket built by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture run by Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co. Congress last year passed a law banning use of the Russian engines for national security launches after 2019, given Russia's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine. ULA launches most U.S. military and intelligence satellites at the moment, but the Air Force is on track to certify privately held Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, to compete to launch some of those satellites by June, or possibly a bit sooner, Air Force Secretary Deborah James told reporters. She said she was concerned about the 2019 deadline, since ULA's new U.S.-powered Vulcan rocket would not be ready until later. Unless Congress changed the law, the Air Force's only launch option for some years might be SpaceX, which would undermine the goal of a competitive launch market, she said. ULA says the new rocket should fly in 2019, but might not be certified for Air Force use until 2022 or 2023. It plans to use the BE-4 engine being developed by Blue Origin, a company owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, using its own money, but is also working with GenCorp Inc's Aerojet Rocketdyne unit, which is developing the AR-1 engine. Hyten said he fully expected a response to the request that included Aerojet Rocketdyne, which has also been working with private research group Dynetics Inc to reduce the risk of developing a new engine. Orbital ATK has also said it would be interested in a U.S.-built engine, if one were available. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Leslie Adler)