It might not be a good year start for Space Exploration Technologies or SpaceX after the U.S. Air Force announced on Wednesday that its certification to launch satellites will be delayed until mid-2015.
Top military officials were supposed to certify SpaceX last year but failed to do. The Air Force did not state the reason of the delay but mentioned that SpaceX had met 80 percent of the criteria for certification. The Air Force has moved the deadline to mid-2015, according to Reuters.
"We expect to certify SpaceX no later than midyear, as we remain very optimistic since SpaceX continues to demonstrate the innate ability to innovate and quickly respond to open items." Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, said in a statement.
To date, only the United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, is certified to launch U.S. military satellites. But there is no announcement yet if the contract for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program will be awarded to ULA.
The Air Force hoped to certify SpaceX last December so that it can compete for a contract to launch a National Reconnaissance Office satellite that was due to be awarded by Dec. 31. The military has allocated $60 million for the certification of SpaceX rockets, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"Competition in the space launch industry is critical to our national security," Air Force Secretary Deborah James said in a news briefing.
SpaceX has not yet commented regarding the delay of its certification. Last year, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sued the U.S. Air Force for allegedly blocking his company from competing for the 36 rocket launches. The company filed the complaint to persuade the Air Force to retract the contract that it awarded to ULA.
