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ELC contract mentioned ($800M a year just to maintain capability) expires in 2019 and probability of its extension is exactly zero. So at least part of the prob
by anovikov 9y ago
ELC contract mentioned ($800M a year just to maintain capability) expires in 2019 and probability of its extension is exactly zero. So at least part of the problem will go away.
ULA being 2x more expensive (but not 3x+ as now, with the ELC annual payments removed), for its much higher reliability, given the enormous cost of the government payloads, sounds like a fair deal.
Early cancellation of ELC was under serious discussion in mid-2016 and it would have most certainly been done already if not Amos-6 accident which raised serious concerns about SpaceX's quality culture.