- SpaceX is slamming a bid by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and Boeing (NYSE:BA), to get a waiver from a U.S. ban on Russian rocket engines.
- Founder Elon Musk has told Defense Secretary Ash Carter that federal law already allowed ULA to use "a substantial number" of engines and its bid (see next bullet) was "nothing less than deceptive brinkmanship for the sole purpose of thwarting the will of Congress."
- ULA CEO Tory Bruno told reporters last week that without some relief from the ban, the company would be unable to bid in the GPS satellite competition, or for any other new national security launches until 2019.
- The Defense Department expects to decide "fairly soon" whether to issue the waiver.