>When ULA was formed, Boeing and Lockheed were not only battling each other for launch contracts, they were also locked in a legal battle over rocket technology. For the Pentagon, the joint-venture was a way to settle the bad blood between its top contractors and make sure that both could remain in the space launch business. ...<p>> In his remarks, Tobey referred to that payment — about $800 million per year — as a carrot to “sweeten the deal” for the “shotgun wedding” the Pentagon forced on Boeing and Lockheed. ...<p>> Shelby continues to defend the original concept of ULA, noting that Boeing and Lockheed were battling each other in court over rocket technology before the merger.<p>>“There was a lot of trouble at one time between Boeing and Lockheed,” Shelby noted in a brief interview.<p>Strange that the article never comes out and says it: Boeing committed industrial espionage and bribed Air Force procurement officials.<p><a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-probe-intensifies-over-secret-lockheed-papers/" rel="nofollow">http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-probe-intensifie...</a><p><a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9802E2D9103BF937A35751C0A9639C8B63" rel="nofollow">http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9802E2D9103BF...</a><p><a href="https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2006/June/06_civ_412.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2006/June/06_civ_412....</a>
Wasn't one of the primary motivations for privatising the space industry to cut costs? So player A wound up having significantly higher costs than later player B. Oh, but mind you, player B (spacex) has had some very serious accidents along the way. I don't remember hearing about such with ULA. I don't necessarily read this as a story of corruption and waste, full stop. Unless I missed something...
The senators in the story are transparently corrupt, but also doing their job.<p>Their job is to represent the interests of their state or their constituency.<p>Otherwise, their constituency would vote them out.<p>These senators are working at cross-purpose with our broader national interests.
I'm glad Elon Musk found enough time to expose the Pentagon's spending after personally launching and navigating a space shuttle.<p>Glad we have reporters checking whether Elon Musk is getting enough vacation time. We wouldn't want Elon Musk to burn Elon Musk out.<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/09/29/elon-musk-needs-a-vacation/" rel="nofollow">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/09/2...</a>