Oct 14, 2011

Joshua Buck Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100 jbuck@nasa gov

Loretta DeSio National Reconnaissance Office 703-808-2655 DeSioLor@nro mil

Tracy A Bunko United States Air Force 703-571-2777 tracy bunko@pentagon af mil

RELEASE: 11-348

NASA, NRO, USAF ESTABLISH STRATEGY FOR CERTIFYING NEW EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLES

WASHINGTON -- NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the U S Air Force signed an agreement this week to establish clear criteria for certification of commercial providers of launch vehicles used for national security space and civil space missions

The U S government is committed to procuring commercial launch services for its satellite and robotic missions, including Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, or EELV, launches The new entrant launch vehicle certification strategy is the latest step in a cooperative effort by the Air Force, NASA and NRO to take advantage of new launch capability for the three agencies' missions

The agencies previously signed a Letter of Intent in October 2010, signaling their collaboration on launch requirements A memorandum of understanding was signed in March, outlining their plans for future EELV-class launch vehicle acquisition, including the need for a coordinated strategy for certification of new entrant launch systems

The basis of the new strategy comes from NASA's existing policy directive for launch vehicle risk mitigation It also recognizes that mission-unique requirements from each of the three agencies may result in different certification approaches to mitigate launch risk The document provides a common framework and language among the agencies for communicating expectations to new launch service providers

The risk-based certification framework allows the agencies to consider both the cost and risk tolerance of the payload and their confidence in the launch vehicle For payloads with higher risk tolerance, the agencies may consider use of launch vehicles with a higher risk category rating and provide an opportunity for new commercial providers to gain experience launching government payloads

Within a given risk category rating, if new entrants have launch vehicles with a demonstrated successful flight history, then the government may require less technical evaluation for non-recurring certification of the new launch system This new strategy further enables competition from emerging, commercially developed launch capabilities for future Air Force, NASA, and NRO missions

http://www nasa gov

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

https://aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/example/example com/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]