Why Is SpaceX Falcon 9 Certification Under Review By Pentagon?

The Pentagon’s decision to order a fresh review of the fitness of Space X Falcon launch vehicles has sprung a surprise. This was communicated to the Air Force on Monday via a memo signed by Michael Roark, deputy for intelligence and special program assessments at Pentagon.

The review will take place in February at the Space and Missile Systems Center in El Segundo, California.

Elon Musk owned SpaceX did not comment. Air Force spokesman Brigadier General Edward Thomas also made no comment.

Rationale of new evaluation

The memo stated that a new evaluation is imperative to assess whether the Air Force’s previous certification of SpaceX’s primary launch vehicles in 2015 fully conforms to the guidelines under Launch Services New Entrant Certification Guide.

“Our objective is to determine whether the U.S. Air Force complied with the Launch Services New Entrant Certification Guide when certifying the launch system design for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle-class SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles,” said the memo addressed to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson.

It is still unclear what prompted a fresh evaluation.

Earlier certification after a legal fight

The Air Force certification in 2015 made Space X eligible to launch military satellites or payloads. It also made Space X a viable alternative to the established player, United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing.

But the certification to Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy was granted after two years of parleys and a paused legal battle. After the certification, SpaceX withdrew the lawsuit challenging the contracts of U.S. military satellite launches to the ULA alliance.

In December 2018, SpaceX rocket had a successful launch of the U.S. military navigation satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The review order comes at a time Space X is basking under the glory of its debut national security space mission . It was able to place the satellite at the desired orbit in less than two hours.

Concerns of ULA

In this context, the concerns expressed by ULA on commercial launch industry players getting access to military space looks important.

John Elbon, COO of ULA, expressed anxiety over the risk faced by the US National Security Space apparatus by hiring commercial launch industry players into military space.

Speaking at the Von Braun Symposium in Huntsville in Alabama in Oct 2018, Elbon made some comments that were directed at SpaceX and Blue Origin, another launch provider.