AUGUST 15, 2019 - No. 065 In This Issue MRO Insider and Thoroughbred Aviation launch Virtual DOM Air Tractor Launches Aircraft Maintenance Training Courses U.S. Air Force Completes A-10 Re-winging Program ZeroAvia unveils hydrogen fuel cell powertrain for aviation Is Forge The Data Analytics Platform Airlines Have Been Craving? Flytrex & Causey Aviation Get FAA Approval to Begin Drone Food Delivery in North Carolina OnAsset Intelligence and Unilode sign IoT contract Dallas Airmotive Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Brazil Regional Turbine Center's Establishment Russia Relaunches Production of Engine Cores for the MiG-31 Pratt & Whitney to Open New PT6A and PW200 Engine Overhaul Centre in Belo Horizonte, Brazil How Blue Origin is trying to rework the rules of the Air Force's coveted rocket competition MRO Insider and Thoroughbred Aviation launch Virtual DOM MRO Insider, an aviation maintenance quoting website, has paired up with aviation consultancy firm Thoroughbred Aviation, LLC. to launch its latest technical feature, Virtual DOM Thoroughbred Aviation's President / Founder Nathan Winkle explained that the Virtual DOM component allows owners and operators to leverage decades of actual Directors of Maintenance [DOM] expertise to support the request for quotation and maintenance project oversight. He also explained that the feature would be able to save owners and operators time, as well as giving them peace of mind. "By teaming up with Nathan and his team at Thoroughbred, we now provide an avenue for aircraft owner/operators to dramatically increase their confidence when submitting and receiving maintenance quotes through our online platform, including physical oversight of the project when requested," MRO Insider Co-Founder Andy Nixon commented. He added: "Virtual DOM is a large step in the continued quest to provide transparency and standardization in the corporate aviation industry all within a secure, anonymous environment." https://www.airmedandrescue.com/latest/news/mro-insider-and-thoroughbred-aviation-launch-virtual-dom Back to Top Air Tractor Launches Aircraft Maintenance Training Courses OLNEY Texas - Air Tractor, the leading manufacturer of purpose-built agricultural, firefighting and utility aircraft, is launching a series of training courses designed to enhance the knowledge of aircraft maintenance technicians with Air Tractor airframe and powerplant systems. "Knowledge is power! The better a technician knows his/her aircraft, the more accurate, safe and economical their work will be," said Brian Hahn, Director of Training and Education at Air Tractor. The first Aircraft Familiarization class will be held Sept. 23-Oct. 2 at Air Tractor headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Olney, Texas. The first class is offered free of charge. A second Aircraft Familiarization class is scheduled for December. The 2020 schedule will be announced later this year. To register for the free Aircraft Familiarization class and to receive additional information, visit airtractor.com/training. "We plan to offer this course 4-6 times each calendar year. We will try to limit the course to no more than 10-12 students at any one time," Hahn said. The course is designed to familiarize maintenance technicians with Air Tractor airframe characteristics, structures, flight controls and systems as well as Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 powerplant systems found on Air Tractor products. There will also be some hands-on time for processes that are commonly and repetitively performed on an Air Tractor aircraft. The familiarization courses allow attendees to address specific challenges that they may have encountered and allows much one-on-one interaction with the instructors. "Since this is a new course, I personally want to make sure that we concentrate on areas of need, have a good balance of time dedicated to each subject and give the student superior training," Hahn said. "For that reason, we are hoping to get highly experienced mechanics to participate in this initial class to provide input for improving and validating the course," Hahn added. The training program was designed by Hahn, an aviation industry veteran with extensive training background. "I thoroughly enjoy training and helping students increase their knowledge and capabilities," Hahn said. "Air Tractor hired me in late 2018 to develop maintenance training for our external customers. I have also been developing and offering training to our internal workforce along with acting as the safety manager for Air Tractor," he said. Hahn received his FAA Airframe and Powerplant ratings in 1991 and worked at structural and airframe repair facilities. Beginning in 1994 Hahn served as an instructor in a FAA Part 147 AMTS (Aviation Maintenance Technician School) where he taught almost all of the 30+ courses in the curriculum. In 1997 he was promoted to Department Chair for the AMTS and remained in that position until 2018. He also received an FAA Inspection Authorization in 1995 and worked on behalf of the FAA as a DME (Designated Mechanic Examiner) between 2005 and 2018. According to Hahn, Air Tractor believes that offering customer technician training is a natural extension of the service model it already supplies to the aerial application, aerial firefighting and specialized utility aircraft communities. "The old saying 'a rising tide lifts all boats' is a great way of describing Air Tractor's goal," Hahn said. While Air Tractor plans to host these courses at their headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Olney, Texas, classes can also be conducted at customer facilities upon request. "Sometimes it makes better sense economically for an instructor to come to the customer instead of making customers come to Olney," Hahn said. "We'll go where we're needed." Find course schedule and enrollment information at airtractor.com/training https://agairupdate.com/air-tractor-launches-aircraft-maintenance-training-courses/ Back to Top U.S. Air Force Completes A-10 Re-winging Program After nearly a decade of work, the U.S. Air Force has completed the task of re-winging 173 Fairchild A-10C Thunderbolt IIs, sufficient to equip six combat squadrons. Over 100 further A-10s are currently in the Air Force inventory with three more squadrons, some of which may also be re-winged in a follow-on program that has yet to be launched. Boeing was awarded a $1.1 billion contract in 2007 to start building replacement wings at its Macon, Georgia facility. Most of the installation work was performed by the 571st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (AMXS) at the Ogden Air Logistics Center (ALC) located at Hill AFB, Utah. Ogden fitted 162 of the wing-sets in what was known as the A-10 Enhanced Wing Assembly replacement program, the remaining 11 being installed at Osan AB, South Korea, from where the A-10 is operated by the 51st Fighter Wing. Replacing the wings gives the A-10 another 10,000 hours of life without the need for a depot inspection, sufficient to keep the aircraft flying until the late 2030s. As part of the re-winging process, the wire harnesses were redesigned to facilitate wing removal and reduce the chance of damage during the process. As well as the new wing-sets from Boeing, the 571st AMXS had to make some new fuselage parts, and also raided A-10s stored at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group's boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. The squadron began work in 2011, the first aircraft to be re-winged being 80-0173. The last machine, 80-0252, was flown on its first post-modification functional check flight (FCF) on July 25. Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Richardson, the commander of the 514th Flight Test Squadron that is assigned to the Ogden ALC, performed the FCF flight of the final re-winged A-10. Despite repeated attempts to retire the type that have surfaced since the late 1980s, the A-10C remains a valuable asset that is popular with Air Force personnel and ground forces alike. In 2016 a retirement date of 2022 was announced, but that date has been pushed back indefinitely and maintenance work has been ramped up to meet continuing operational demands. Later this fall the Air Force is expected to issue a contract for an unknown quantity of further A-10 wing-sets, if funds allow. The work to build the wings would be re-competed. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2019-08-14/us-air-force-completes-10-re-winging-program Back to Top ZeroAvia unveils hydrogen fuel cell powertrain for aviation In the latest effort to make aviation sustainable and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ZeroAvia announced advancements in developing a hydrogen-fueled electric powertrain. The solution aims to deliver the same performance as a conventional aircraft engine, and much lower operating costs. ZeroAvia plans to start supplying its platform to commercial operators and aircraft manufacturers in 2022, initially targeting up to 500-mile regional flights in 10 to 20-seat fixed-wing aircraft. ZeroAvia was founded by serial cleantech entrepreneur Val Miftakhov, who is also an avid airplane and helicopter pilot. He previously founded and was the CEO of eMotorWerks, a smart grid electric vehicle charging company acquired in 2017. The core leadership team at ZeroAvia includes alumni from Tesla, BMW, NVIDIA, Zee Aero, Air Liquide, and SystemIQ, as well as other founding members of eMotorWerks. The company is already flight-testing its powertrain prototype in a Piper M-Class airframe. The Federal Aviation Administration issued an Experimental R&D Certificate to ZeroAvia's Piper M-Class R&D platform earlier this year. At a 2-ton takeoff weight and with six seats in a business-class arrangement, it is currently the world's largest zero-emission aircraft flying without any fossil fuel support, according to publicly available information. The aircraft has completed a variety of test flights, which validated key components and their integration into a complete powertrain system. These tests confirm the company's fuel economy and maximum power delivery targets. ZeroAvia is initially targeting 500-mile flights to serve the short-haul and commuter air travel markets, which make up nearly half the commercial flights worldwide. Powered by ZeroAvia powertrains, smaller zero-emission aircraft could achieve similar per-seat economics as today's large regional jets, allowing economical use of smaller local airports for point-to-point travel with virtually no security lines or delays, and a much more pleasant overall flying experience. In addition to passenger transport, the ZeroAvia powertrain could have applications across other use cases including cargo, air taxi, agriculture, as well as across the aircraft types, including manned and unmanned fixed-wing, rotorcraft, and more. Starting in 2022, the ZeroAvia powertrain will offer operators a sustainable option for new aircraft made by established manufacturers where customers already purchase their aircraft. ZeroAvia will lease the drivetrain to customers and provide fuel and maintenance as part of its power-by-the-hour model, in which customers pay only for the hours that they use the drivetrain. This model emulates engine leasing options already popular in the aviation market. https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/08/20190815-zeroavia.html Back to Top Is Forge The Data Analytics Platform Airlines Have Been Craving? A new unified analytics-based software platform, Forge for Airlines, was able to reduce delays and cancellations by 30 percent for Cathay Pacific, according to Honeywell Aerospace. Could it be the centralized access point to actionable aircraft data analysis that airlines have been craving? First launched in June, Honeywell Forge is a new data analytics technology stack capable of collecting, cleaning and analyzing wide swaths of data from a variety of airline sources for predictive analytics. The tool can provide an accurate forecasting of how much money an airline such as Cathay can save based on the type of data-driven decision-making that they're engaged in. "Today the traditional workflow is that a data analyst for the airline would have to go out to the IT department and have them run a ticket, said John Peterson, vice president and general manager of software and services at Honeywell Connected Enterprise. "The ticket would pull all of this data and then they'd have to sit down and sort it out in spread sheets and then they'd have to figure out how to draw conclusions from it. Then from those conclusions, the analyst figures out the initiatives that they can do, and then they repeat the process again." Peterson said the Honeywell Forge analytics platform automates that entire workflow by using a combination of edge processing and data acquisition on aircraft system and components along with algorithms and data analysis on the ground. Once data is captured and analyzed, Honeywell presents it to the relevant airline personnel in an easy-to-understand dashboard format. Forge is capable of providing predictive maintenance alerts and can be interfaced in a customizable way to send and receive data to airline specific application programmable interfaces, algorithms and other processes, according to Peterson. Across 61 aircraft operated by Cathay Pacific, Forge captured 44,000 fault messages and a total of 1.6 million flight records to produce a predictive model report for the airline's maintenance team up to three days before some components on those aircraft were projected to fail. The new platform is one of the latest aircraft data analytics technologies to be introduced in recent years, as airlines are also using other new solutions including Airbus' Skywise, Teledyne's AirFASE and even Google's BigQuery. The new platforms are an extension of newer quick access recorder and aircraft data integration technologies that are increasingly becoming standard on aircraft. As an example, the Airbus A350 and A320neo now feature an onboard flight operations and maintenance exchanger (FOMAX), a secure server router and compact connectivity unit that gathers aircraft maintenance and performance data and automatically sends it to maintenance control center engineers and technicians. Avionica and GE Aviation have taken a similar approach, leveraging Avionica's quick access recorder technology and GE's advanced data analytics platform to provide integrated solutions to operators. Now, with Forge, Honeywell can pair its own advanced data analytics platform with its aircraft data gateway box, first introduced in 2017, as method for wirelessly transferring data on and off of aircraft, though Peterson said Forge works with any available quick access recorder or edge processing onboard system. "The way it actually works is we collect the data at a frequency rate that is determined by the airline. Then we have trending and monitoring occurring in the background. So we're constantly processing as the data is being collected, then what ends up happening is we provide alerts that say 'we see an event here that needs to be addressed.'" Peterson said Honeywell now has more than 100 airlines and 8,000 total business and commercial aircraft utilizing Forge. https://www.aviationtoday.com/2019/08/13/forge-data-analytics-platform-airlines-craving/ Back to Top Flytrex & Causey Aviation Get FAA Approval to Begin Drone Food Delivery in North Carolina August 13, 2019 - Holly Springs, NC - Today, pioneering drone company Flytrex and the drone services company Causey Aviation Unmanned, Inc. (CAU) received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin food deliveries by drone in Holly Springs, North Carolina. As part of the FAA's UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) and in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), Causey Aviation, the Town of Holly Springs, and Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG), Flytrex will soon begin its on-demand, unmanned food delivery via commercial drones for local residents. Today's announcement comes in the wake of the recent validation of Flytrex's self-triggered parachute recovery system by NUAIR (Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research), according to standards set by the FAA and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Flytrex and Causey join the few select companies to be authorized to operate in a suburban area. "Regulation is crucial to the future of widespread drone delivery, both for safe operations and public acceptance, which is why we have been working diligently with the FAA to adhere to the highest standards of safety," said Yariv Bash, CEO and Co-Founder of Flytrex. "We continually strive to reach new heights when it comes to advancing commercial drone use around the world. That is why we are thrilled to have been chosen to work so closely with the FAA to help this pilot take off. This is just the beginning as we expand the possibilities of sky-bound delivery." Per the approved proposal, Flytrex drones will operate along one predetermined delivery route, connecting a distribution center at Holly Springs Towne Center, a shopping destination owned and operated by Kite Realty Group, with a single delivery point: Ting Park, a nearby outdoor sports and recreation hub. The flight route crosses over Route 55, and will fly primarily over unpopulated areas, avoiding flights over adjacent neighborhoods. CAU Drone Delivery Operations for compensation under this provision will be conducted in accordance with Part 107 Rules and within Line of Sight of the Remote Pilot in Command (RPIC). About Flytrex Flytrex provides comprehensive autonomous drone delivery systems that enable any business, from SMBs to e-commerce giants, to integrate on-demand autonomous drone delivery into their offering. From facilitating the regulatory process to providing the drones, a cloud-based drone management system, insurance and maintenance, Flytrex is an end-to-end drone logistics service spearheading the drone revolution. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, the Flytrex team has 50+ years aerospace and defense experience. About Causey Aviation Unmanned Causey Aviation Service, Inc. is an IS-BAO Stage III Registered Aircraft Management, Charter and Maintenance company headquartered in North Carolina for over 50 Years. Causey Aviation makes owning a jet easy and provides secure private transportation in North America, Europe and beyond. Causey Aviation Unmanned, Inc. leverages that broad experience to develop the appropriate safety and regulatory processes for drone delivery operations. Vector AeroMedical, LLC is Causey Aviation's CAMTS accredited air ambulance service. About Kite Realty Group Trust Kite Realty Group Trust is a full-service, vertically integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that provides communities with convenient and beneficial shopping experiences. We connect consumers to retailers in desirable markets through our portfolio of neighborhood, community, and lifestyle centers. Using operational, development, and redevelopment expertise, we continuously optimize our portfolio to maximize value and return to our shareholders. For more information, please visit our website at kiterealty.com. https://www.directionsmag.com/pressrelease/9067 Back to Top OnAsset Intelligence and Unilode sign IoT contract August 14, 2019: OnAsset Intelligence and Unilode Aviation Solutions have entered into a partnership for ULD digitisation, signing an internet of things (IoT) contract. Texas-headquartered OnAsset provides a full suite of shipment and piece-level cargo tracking solutions to make digital enablement possible. Unilode provides ULD management, maintenance and repair services. "We are excited to be part of this step change in the industry. Building upon our longstanding history of innovation in leading-edge aviation-compliant asset tracking and monitoring solutions, we are proud to be in partnership with Unilode as they create the industry's largest fleet of digitised ULDs," said Adam Crossno, CEO of OnAsset. Crossno focused on Unilode's customer-centric focus on digital innovation, combined with OnAsset's devices and cloud software as the basis for creating a new class of services. Benoit Dumont, CEO of Unilode Aviation Solutions, commented, "Unilode has committed to fully digitising its fleet of ULDs to provide our customers the best solution in the industry. We're going to change how the industry thinks of the ULD, and we intend to show the world the power of industrial IoT solutions deployed at scale. OnAsset is a great partner and we have a deep innovation roadmap to explore together." https://www.stattimes.com/onasset-intelligence-and-unilode-sign-iot-contract-aviation Back to Top Dallas Airmotive Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Brazil Regional Turbine Center's Establishment Dallas Airmotive's Brazil RTC was established in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 2009 to support the region's business and general aviation (B&GA) operators with quick-turn engine maintenance and repair services. The Brazil RTC is ANAC-approved to provide maintenance for Pratt & Whitney's PT6A and JT15D engines and Honeywell's TFE731 MSP and non-MSP engines. The RTC also provides line maintenance for Honeywell's HTF7000 engines and 36 series APU. "The Brazil RTC has seen significant growth and development since first opening, and they are well-known in the region for the exceptional support of multiple engine product lines in-shop and in the field," Jeff Turner, Dallas Airmotive Vice President of Sales & Service - Americas, said. Turner said the facility's success is largely due to its people, and he is confident the team will continue to enhance support in the region. Brazil RTC manager Wellington Amorim recently joined Dallas Airmotive to lead the facility's efforts to further develop business in South America. "Our team is focused on finding the best solution for aircraft operators and providing excellent customer service," Amorim said. "I believe that is what truly sets us apart from other providers in the region." "We're proud of the progress the Brazil RTC has accomplished in the last 10 years by growing our customer-base and ensuring operators are satisfied with the support we provide," Turner said. "We look forward to the next decade of success." https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/maintenance-providers/mro/press-release/21092758/dallas-airmotive-inc-dallas-airmotive-celebrates-10th-anniversary-of-brazil-regional-turbine-centers-establishment Back to Top Russia Relaunches Production of Engine Cores for the MiG-31 Russia's United Engine Corporation (local acronym ODK) is halfway through an effort to relaunch the series production of the core engine (gas-generator) for the D30F6 reheated turbofan that powers the MiG-31 interceptor. The work is being carried out by the Perm Motor Plant (PMZ). This company manufactured about 1,600 such engines in the 1979-1992 timeframe, each developing a maximum thrust of 152 kN (34,170 pounds). Due to the high utilization of the MiG-31 fleet over the past decade, the stock of spare engines is running out, and operators and industry need to replenish it by overhauling some engines through the replacement of worn-out parts in the hot section. A member of ODK's Perm Motors division that unites several enterprises located in the city of Perm, PMZ has recently resumed the manufacture of the high-pressure turbine (HPT) and combustion chamber. This effort took three years, according to ODK-Perm Motors CEO Sergei Popov. Together with some other parts, these items are now included in a typical repair kit for the Aircraft Repair Plant no. 218 at Gatchina (ARZ218) that specializes in D30F6 heavy maintenance. The next three years will be devoted to relaunching production of the high-pressure compressor (HPC). With that accomplished, PMZ will be in a position to assemble a completely new gas-generator for the D30F6 by late 2021. Popov said that, as of today, there are no plans for the manufacture of a complete engine. Instead, starting in early 2022, his enterprise would supply "extended repair kits" to ARZ218. Out of the production run of some 520 MiG-31s, half remain operational in Russia and Kazakhstan. The Russian Air and Space Force (VKS) wants to keep the type in service until 2035. Since 2012, about 60 aircraft have undergone modernization into the MiG-31BM/BSM version. Earlier this year, the Russian defense ministry awarded United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) a new order. While exact numbers remain secret, UAC president Yuri Slyusar said that all surviving MiG-31s will undergo modernization by 2023. In the meantime, local media and experts have speculated on the possibility of restarting D30F6 production to power the MiG-41/PAK DP, a next-generation high-speed interceptor that is under development to replace the MiG-31. Additionally, the Aviadvigatel design house that developed the engine intends to employ its gas-generator in a new 32-MW industrial turbine for Gazprom and other fossil fuel companies. Should this product sell well, it would help the industry invest in the production restoration effort-not just of the core, but of the entire engine. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2019-08-13/russia-relaunches-production-engine-cores-mig-31 Back to Top Pratt & Whitney to Open New PT6A and PW200 Engine Overhaul Centre in Belo Horizonte, Brazil SÃO PAULO, August 13, 2019 - Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), is pleased to announce that it is collaborating with Ind?stria de Aviação e Serviços (IAS) to open a new overhaul facility in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, for PT6A and PW200 engines. "With the opening of the new facility in Belo Horizonte, our customers can benefit from faster and more cost-effective engine overhaul services," said Satheeshkumar Kumarasingham, vice president of Customer Service at Pratt & Whitney. "With a large population of Pratt & Whitney powered aircraft in Brazil, we are continuing to invest in the country to best meet our customers' needs." Pratt & Whitney has operated in Brazil for more than 75 years and remains the country's leading supplier of General Aviation engines. The company also powers a large number of the nation's aircraft for government, commercial and business use. This experience gives Pratt & Whitney's local team the unique insight and ability to personalize services and solutions to meet customers' needs. "We're excited to be working with Pratt & Whitney on this new overhaul shop," said Ronaldo Aldrin, chief executive officer at IAS. "The PT6A and PW200 engine families power more than 1,300 aircraft in Brazil. We're looking forward to collaborating with Pratt & Whitney to serve customers even better." This new facility builds on an existing service network in the country including Sorocaba, a hot section inspection and parts distribution center. More recently, three sites joined the Pratt & Whitney designated maintenance facilities network in Brazil - more than in any other country - for the line maintenance and mobile repair of PT6A and helicopter engines. ABA Manutenção de Aeronaves in Barreiras serves the needs of agricultural operators, Rico Táxi Aéreo in Manaus serves PT6A general aviation operators and Helipark Manutenção in São Paulo services several Pratt & Whitney helicopter engines. About Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft and helicopter engines, and auxiliary power units. United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries. To learn more about UTC, visit its website at www.utc.com, or follow the company on Twitter: @UTC. https://agairupdate.com/pratt-whitney-to-open-new-pt6a-and-pw200-engine-overhaul-centre-in-belo-horizonte-brazil/ Back to Top How Blue Origin is trying to rework the rules of the Air Force's coveted rocket competition On Monday, August 12th, aerospace company Blue Origin filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), arguing that the Air Force is running a "flawed" competition to pick the agency's next round of launch providers for national security missions. There's a good chance this last-ditch protest could change the terms of the competition before final selections are made, but shifting the rules in favor of Blue Origin won't guarantee that the company is chosen in the end. The day that Blue Origin filed the protest was the same day that proposals were due for the Air Force's Launch Service Procurement program. The initiative aims to select two rocket companies that will launch all of the Air Force's missions to space from 2022 to 2026. The Air Force wants one company to support 60 percent of the launches, and the second will handle the other 40 percent. The contracts for these missions are potentially worth billions of dollars combined and could ultimately give them an edge in future Air Force competitions. Being selected as part of this program is a matter of life and death for some launch providers. Four companies are officially competing for the coveted contracts, including Blue Origin, SpaceX, the United Launch Alliance (ULA), and Northrop Grumman. Three of these companies - all except SpaceX - received millions of dollars from the Air Force last year to further development of their vehicles. Those that aren't selected will stop receiving their funding, raising the stakes for some in the competition, including Blue Origin. Blue Origin's argument is that the Air Force is limiting itself by choosing only two providers. "Unless the Air Force changes its approach, this procurement will perpetuate a market duopoly in national security space launch well into the next decade, causing higher launch prices, less assured access to space, and a missed opportunity to expand our national security interests and bolster U.S. leadership in space," Blue Origin stated in a fact sheet about the protest. Blue Origin also claims that the Air Force's selection strategy favors the only two companies currently authorized to send military payloads into space. The first is ULA, which dominated national security launches for most of the 2000s. The other is SpaceX, which more or less forced its way onto the scene when it protested a major contract given to ULA in 2014. SpaceX received certification to launch national security payloads in 2015 and has flown numerous high-profile missions for the Department of Defense ever since. Within the latest procurement, the Air Force specifies that companies can put forward a backup launch vehicle, along with a primary rocket, to put satellites into orbit. This puts Blue Origin at a disadvantage, the company argues, since it's only bidding its future New Glenn rocket, which is supposed to fly for the first time in 2021. However, both SpaceX and ULA have backup options. SpaceX has both the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, while ULA has its future Vulcan rocket, as well as the Atlas V it's currently launching. Ultimately, Blue Origin wants to change the structure of the procurement to give the company a leg up in the competition. Within the next 30 days, the Air Force can either file to dismiss Blue Origin's protest or agree that changes need to be made. Then, Blue Origin will have a chance to respond to the Air Force's reply. No matter what, Blue Origin's protest must be resolved within 100 days of its filing, and the Air Force cannot make a final selection until the protest has been resolved. (That last point isn't as much of an issue - the choice of the final two candidates is currently scheduled for spring of next year.) The odds are pretty even that the company can enact some kind of change. Of the more than 2,600 protests the GAO received last year, 44 percent of them resulted in some kind of change from the government agency that the protester wanted. Either the agency decided on its own to make changes before the GAO came to a conclusion, or the GAO completed the case and recommend in favor of the protestor. However, the GAO doesn't always side with the protestor. Only 622 protests went to a GAO decision last year, and 92 went in the protestor's favor. Even if the GAO does come to a decision that favors Blue Origin, it's not guaranteed the Air Force will change anything. The GAO only issues recommendations to government agencies on what needs to change - it's up to the agencies whether they follow them. But if the Air Force chooses to ignore the GAO's decision, the GAO must notify Congress, which can then take up the matter with the executive branch. Blue Origin has already appealed to its congressional representatives about the procurement. In March, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee - whose district includes Blue Origin headquarters - wrote a letter to then-Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson, urging her to delay the procurement. He argued that the current language in the procurement "risks undermining the Air Force's goal of maximizing and sustaining fair and open competition," according to Defense News. Of course, it's possible Blue Origin can wind up changing the procurement structure but still not be selected in the end. In the meantime, Blue Origin has still submitted a proposal while its protest is considered. But it's not just Blue Origin pulling out all the stops to be selected. SpaceX also sued the US government in May, contesting the award of the Air Force's development money it didn't receive last year. When billions of military funding is at stake, it's clear that competing companies will do everything they can to make sure the playing field is level. https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/13/20803613/blue-origin-bid-protest-air-force-launch-procurement-national-security-missions Curt Lewis