The now former vice president of engineering at the United Launch Alliance (ULA) was a little too candid when discussing the advantages of ULA's competitor SpaceX at a talk with engineering students at the University of Colorado. Brett Tobey has resigned from his position, and Senator John McCain has called for an investigation into his comments:
Brett Tobey, vice president of engineering at the United Launch Alliance, has resigned after he spilled the beans on ULA's feud with SpaceX. He made the remarks to students at his alma mater in a speech that was recorded and then put online.
ULA is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin that lofts US military satellites into orbit. The biz has been at loggerheads with SpaceX after the Elon Musk-led upstart was locked out of the bidding for government contracts. SpaceX sued Uncle Sam, and was eventually allowed to bid on a launch. ULA didn't put in a counter-bid because it said it couldn't meet the requirements of the contract.
However, Tobey told students at University of Colorado-Boulder this week that other factors were involved – chiefly that ULA couldn't match SpaceX on price. He explained that SpaceX was offering to do the entire launch for $60m, and ULA would have charged $125m. That figure rises to $200m when you factor in the $800m a year the US military pays ULA for a "capability contract" to provide short-notice launches in an emergency. "ULA opted to not bid that," Tobey said. "The government was not happy with us not bidding that contract because they felt that they had bent over backwards to lean the fill to our advantage. But we saw it as a cost shootout between us and SpaceX."
Tobey also ranted about SpaceX using Senator John McCain to block access to key technology for ULA. The consortium uses RD-180 rocket engines that are made in Russia, but after Putin started acting up, the ULA was barred from buying the rockets under conditions of embargo – at SpaceX's bidding, Tobey suggested. Luckily for ULA, the ban on Russian rockets was overturned by Senator Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican who represents a district where ULA has a major manufacturing plant. Nevertheless, ULA has now hired two firms to develop a new rocket for its launches.
TFA has some more juicy details, and I would recommend reading the rest. More coverage at The Verge, Ars Technica, GovExec.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 18 2016, @11:33AM
Uh-huh, uh-huh. Your forgot the part about how he will enjoy his golden parachute.
Meanwhile in the real world, American homeless engineers remain homeless.
That's social justice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 18 2016, @11:38AM
courtesy of mil-in complex.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Bot on Friday March 18 2016, @12:29PM
This one weird trick will put you in trouble with any establishment (did I say any? there is only one left, basically).
The trick is called: telling the truth.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Friday March 18 2016, @12:52PM
Rather telling anything that upset their interests. Regardless of the truth.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday March 18 2016, @02:51PM
Watch what happened when the camera kept rolling on these cheerleaders who tried to resign!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 19 2016, @07:06PM
What happened? What happened? Did they get naked? Can I watch? Did they re-sign?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 18 2016, @12:59PM
Government contractors are not allowed to retaliate when employees report waste, fraud, and abuse.
Even if nothing sticks, at least the remaining management can be made VERY uncomfortable. They can spend some time with investigators, spend some time on the witness stand, and generally know that they are being watched.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 18 2016, @02:57PM
He's not reporting waste, fraud, and abuse. He's saying ULA couldn't compete because they are 2X more expensive, largely out of pursuing 100% reliability at all costs.
I thought his comments were very candid and correct. He's resigning because he embarrassed ULA by pointing out that they can't compete on price right now, and he was probably too blunt in talking about the involvement of the Senators.
I read a lot of his reported statements and he sounds like the upper-management boss that you wish you had: pro-company but with a firm grasp on reality and willing to state it. They could very easily have taken the gist of his comments as a good rallying cry, the sort of "better, cheaper, faster" type of momentum going forward. Instead, it looks like they're pulling back into the "he doesn't represent our views" mode and you'll end up seeing just more of the same.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 18 2016, @05:57PM
He said that the Air Force had been trying to tweak to requirements to favor ULA. That's not OK, even if ULA opted out due to being overpriced.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday March 18 2016, @07:39PM
Had he not pointed fingers at the Senators he would have gotten away with it. Even the bit about the government tilting the contract to their advantage.
ULA isn't the only bunch prevented from buying Russian Rocket Motors. (Which the US is fully licensed to build [wikipedia.org] in-house.)
The only investigation likely to occur here is the mention of McCain.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by linkdude64 on Friday March 18 2016, @01:15PM
I was thinking it was something more serious, like maybe he made a phallic joke about rockets and sexual-humor-assaulted some poor, helpless, strong, and independent college student.
Guess I can put my torch and pitchfork away.
...for now.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday March 18 2016, @01:27PM
Made ya look!
That enough to constitute sexual-humor-assault?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by linkdude64 on Friday March 18 2016, @03:42PM
Ugh. So ignorant!
Bridges are not limited to the cishet socially enforced gender binary dynamic of "boy and girl." They have unique pronouns such as tri, dri, and uri. "I crossed over the tridge today" or, "London Uridge is beautiful and brave" for example. This is a stunning example of the bridgogynistic nad structuralist attitudes that are so present in corporate America.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday March 18 2016, @03:59PM
The quote says "brides". I think you've had enough to drink today, sir.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by rts008 on Friday March 18 2016, @04:08PM
No, let him go on. Encourage him in fact.
It had me giggling like I used to watching Monty Python.
(Score: 2) by arulatas on Friday March 18 2016, @04:57PM
Bloody splitters.
----- 10 turns around
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Friday March 18 2016, @02:15PM
Come on, people, say it isn't so! There's no corruption in the military industrial complex! Those people all serve because they are happy to serve us proles - they're not in it for the money. It's their duty and privilege to work long hours, to develop the best weapons and crap in the world. They do it because they want our soldiers and sailors to have the bestest of everything. Corruption? Hell, man, they're not motivated by filthy lucre!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 18 2016, @07:25PM
can't tell if joking or stupid withouth the PS filled with sionist shit
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Friday March 18 2016, @03:59PM
ULA? More like U-mad-bro?
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 18 2016, @05:01PM
His guard was down due to certain legal-in-Colorado activities.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday March 19 2016, @10:25AM
so, maybe we need to start slipping truth serum in the guest-speaker's water; see if more "inconvenient" truths leak out..
Also, isn't "military industrial complex" just synonymous for "corrupt to the core"?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex