SpaceX sees US approval for rocket launches by June

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Space Exploration Technologies expects the U.S. Air Force to certify it to compete to launch national security satellites by June, President Gwynne Shotwell told Reuters on Friday.

Shotwell said the company's relationship with the Air Force was better than ever after the two sides in January settled a lawsuit filed by SpaceX. She said the U. S. military was increasingly open to innovation by commercial firms.

SpaceX, founded by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, had accused the Air Force of dragging its feet in ending the current launch monopoly held by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co.

Air Force and Pentagon officials credit SpaceX with energizing the government rocket launch market and pushing ULA to lower its prices, even before the privately held company has been certified to compete for rocket launches.

The Air Force missed its December target for completing the certification process, but a top U. S. official told Reuters this week the process should be complete by June.

"We are really close to getting the work done and getting the agreements made," Shotwell said. "I'm hoping it can be a little bit sooner, but we'll see."

Shotwell also welcomed a request for information that the Air Force issued last month as it develops a plan to end U. S. reliance on the RD- 180, a Russian- built engine that powers the Atlas 5, one of two rockets used by ULA.

SpaceX plans to respond to the request, which indicated the Air Force might kick off a multibillion- dollar competition for 28 launches of government satellites, instead of focusing narrowly on development of a new rocket engine.

Shotwell said it made sense to invest in U.S.-based propulsion systems instead of buying engines from Russia, but added that companies that design rockets should develop the engines since the two systems are so closely tied.

"It's not like adding a component to your stereo system," she said. "That engine is integral to overall design and architecture of your rocket."

Congress, concerned about Russia's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine, last year passed a law requiring the Air Force to end reliance on the RD-180 engine by 2019.

The Air Force is expected to finalize its acquisition strategy for the effort in coming months.