USAF Rejected SpaceX Offer To Launch GPS 3 Satellites for $80M Each

As reported by SpaceNews: Months before the U.S. Defense Department disclosed plans to award a sole-source contract to United Launch Alliance for a block of national security satellite launches, the Air Force turned down an unsolicited bid from Space Exploration Technologies Corp. to launch the service’s GPS 3 navigation satellites for $79.9 million each, according to new filings in federal court.

In a timeline detailing events in the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program and filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims June 4, SpaceX said it submitted the proposal on Aug. 16, 2012. 

On Sept. 18, 2012, the Air Force rejected the proposal, “explaining that the GPS III satellites ‘may be acquired by competitive methods’ from ‘certified launch providers,’” the SpaceX timeline said.

SpaceX is not expected to earn formal certification from the Air Force to bid on national security launch missions until the end of this year at the earliest. 

The exchange, as outlined, provides one of the clearest examples yet of SpaceX’s frustration with the Air Force process for buying rockets. 

SpaceX has asked the court to bar the Air Force from buying 22 first-stage rocket cores on a sole-source basis from ULA. That number, a subset of the 36 cores the Air Force ordered from ULA last year under an $11 billion contract, reflects the missions for which SpaceX believes it can compete with its Falcon 9 rocket.

Two months after the Air Force rejected SpaceX’s proposal,  Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s top acquisition official, issued a memo approving an Air Force plan to enter into the so-called block buy contract with ULA. 

The block buy is part of a two-pronged strategy aimed at reining in the Air Force’s sky-high satellite launching costs. The other element is competition: Kendall’s plan also called for the Air Force to put up to 14 additional missions up for bid, giving newcomers like SpaceX a chance to win Pentagon business.

In March 2014, the Air Force announced it halved the number of space launches to be competitively awarded from 2015 to 2017 due in part to anticipated production slowdowns in satellite programs, primarily GPS 3.

The first of those competitively awarded missions, meanwhile, appears to be the launch of a classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the nation’s spy satellites. The Air Force on June 4 issued a draft request for proposals for that mission, dubbed NROL-79.


Industry sources have long said that SpaceX was vying for the GPS 3 missions, which appear well suited to the capabilities of the Falcon 9. The court filing is the first public disclosure of the asking price.

It is unclear whether SpaceX’s offer is still on the table. A spokeswoman for SpaceX, Allison Bryan, did not answer that question before presstime.

During a meeting with reporters May 19, Michael Gass, the president and chief executive of Denver-based ULA, said the average cost of its Atlas 5 401 rocket, one of the smaller versions of that vehicle, was about $164 million per launch for those missions under contract. Future versions, meaning those purchased after the block buy, would start at less than $100 million, he said.  

ULA has accused SpaceX of charging prices that are 30 to 105 percent higher than what SpaceX has advertised online. On its website, SpaceX says its standard commercial Falcon 9 launches cost $61.2 million, although company officials have said government missions tend to have additional requirements that drive up their cost. 

The Air Force, in additions filed to the SpaceX timeline, said it issued a request for proposals (RFPs) for the block buy in March 2012, and made a redacted copy of the request available to SpaceX the following month. “No prospective launch service providers objected to the RFP’s scope or any of its terms,” the Air Force addition reads.

One of the questions raised by the U.S. Department of Justice, which is representing the Air Force in the case, is whether SpaceX filed its protest within the proper time frame to be given consideration.

Bloodhound SSC: Andy Green’s 1,000mph Office Revealed

As reported by Bloodhound SSC:  The cockpit of BLOODHOUND SSC, the 1,000mph (1,609km/h) Land Speed Racing car, was unveiled today in Bristol, UK. The state-of-the-art carbon fiber monocoque has been tailored to the needs of driver Andy Green and will be his supersonic office during record attempts in the South African desert in 2015 and 2016.

Hand crafted by URT Group using five different types of carbon fibre weave and two different resins, the monocoque has taken more than 10,000 hours to design and manufacture. 

Sandwiched between the layers of carbon fibre are three different thicknesses of aluminum honeycomb core (8, 12 and 20mm), which provide additional strength. At its thickest point the monocoque comprises of 13 individual layers but is just 25mm in cross section.

Let Andy show you round the outside of the cockpit in this video:

The structure weighs 200kg and bolts directly to the metallic rear chassis carrying the jet, rocket and racing car engine. The carbon front section will have to endure peak aerodynamic loads of up to three tonnes per square meter at 1,000mph (1,609kph) as well the considerable forces generated by the front wheels and suspension. It will also carry ballistic armor to protect the driver should a stone be thrown up by the front wheels at very high speeds.  

The roof of the cockpit has been designed to create a series of shock-waves that will channel the air into the Eurojet EJ200 jet engine.  If supersonic air reaches the jet engine fan blades, the airflow will break down and the engine will ‘choke’ (known as a ‘surge’). This can generate huge changes in pressure that could damage both the jet engine and Car, hence BLOODHOUND SSC using shock-waves over the canopy to slow the airflow from over 1,000mph (1,609km/h) to just 600mph (643km/h) in a distance of around one meter.  Deflecting winds traveling five times faster than a hurricane will, however, cause additional noise and vibration to be transmitted into the cockpit.

The sound levels expected in and around BLOODHOUND SSC are being carefully evaluated. The cockpit is positioned in front of three incredibly loud motors: the jet, a cluster of hybrid rockets and the racing car engine that drives the rocket’s oxidiser pump. Collectively they will generate a noise level estimated at 140 decibels. Much of the noise will be directed backwards, away from the driver, and above 750mph (1,207km/h) the Car will out-run its own sound waves. However, the Project’s engineers still anticipate that shockwave and jet intake noise levels may produce over 120 decibels inside the cockpit. Andy will wear an in-ear communications system specially made by Ultimate Ear to protect his hearing and to ensure that he can communicate with Mission Control.

BLOODHOUND has a highly specialised windscreen custom-made by PPA Group from acrylic. The plastic is heated, stretched and then two layers are bonded together to create a 25mm section, thicker than a fighter jet’s windscreen and sufficient to withstand an impact with a 1kg bird at 900mph (1,448km/h). Due to the oblique angle the windscreen is set at, the driver will in fact be looking through 50mm of curved plastic. The key challenge has therefore been to make the screen robust while maintaining absolute visual clarity.

Andy has drawn on his experience of flying fast jets and driving World Land Speed Record winners Thrust SSC and JCB Dieselmax to design the dashboard and cockpit layout. Good ergonomics are vital given that BLOODHOUND SSC will cover a mile in 3.6 seconds, or 150m in the (300 millisecond) blink of an eye. He explains the internal layout in this video:

The central screen shows the speed in miles per hour and Mach number (Mach 1 being the speed of sound), calculated by GPS, plus jet engine and rocket outputs. Dynamic speed indicators help Andy to judge when to fire the rocket and deploy the braking systems. Wheel loads are also given prominence. BLOODHOUND does not use aerodynamic downforce, as a Formula 1 car does, while lift at the nose or rear axle must also be avoided at all costs. The need to carefully balance forces throughout its 1000mph speed range is one of the major reasons why shaping the Car has taken 30 design-years.

The left-hand screen shows hydraulic pressures and temperatures in the braking and airbrake systems, while the one to Andy’s right provides information about the three engines, including temperatures, pressures and fuel levels. Together, the EJ200 jet engine and Nammo hybrid rockets produce around 210 kN (21 tonnes) of thrust, equivalent to 135,000 thrust hp, or 180 F1 cars, and Andy will monitor their status at key points during each run. 

BLOODHOUND’s dash also features two precision-engineered analogue Rolex instruments: a chronograph with built-in stopwatch, and a speedometer graduated up to 1,100mph (1,770km/h). The speedometer is a vital back-up to allow the Car to be stopped safely should the digital dashboard fail, while the chronograph will help to time the start-up and cool-down of the jet, and help to monitor the performance of other systems. Tested to withstand the severe vibration at 1,000 mph and the desert heat, these bespoke Rolex instruments are unique to BLOODHOUND SSC.

Andy enters his office via a carbon fiber hatch, 500mm in diameter, just below the jet air intake. At full power, the EJ200 fan sucks in 65 m3 of air per second, so the hatch will be fastened using latches able to withstand loads of 2.5kN (quarter of a tonne) to prevent it from getting ingested into the engine.

The instrument panels have been coated with a special non-reflective grey paint to provide the optimum background colour against which to see the gauges and controls, while the cockpit walls are white to maximise the available light in the cockpit. The Car also has interior lights, as BLOODHOUND SSC will often be prepared before dawn, when the desert will still be dark and temperatures around freezing.  During the day ambient temperatures will approach 40ºC (104ºF) though BLOODHOUND SSC will most likely not run in conditions above 25ºC (77ºF) as the metallic sections of the Car will get too hot for the team to handle and the jet engine is inefficient when burning hot, less dense air.  Cockpit temperature is still expected to approach exceed 35ºC (95ºF), so external air conditioning will be used to cool it prior to each run, though this is primarily for the comfort of the electronics, not the driver.

Andy will keep BLOODHOUND SSC on course using a bespoke 3D printed titanium steering wheel, shaped to his hands and finger reach.  Buttons on the front control the EMCOM radio, airbrakes and parachutes, while triggers on the rear of the handgrips prime and fire the rockets.  BLOODHOUND engineers developed several design evolutions of the wheel, the last of which was finalised for manufacture by Cambridge Design Partnership. BLOODHOUND has a conventional steering rack with a 30:1 ratio (compared to a normal car of around 15:1) though its long wheelbase makes for a very large turning circle: 240 metres, compared with 10 metres for a typical family hatchback.

BLOODHOUND SSC has pedals like a regular car, though once again, they are custom designed for Andy. The right-hand pedal throttles the EJ200 jet engine and will be used to start the Car moving. The left pedal controls the wheel brakes and will be used to slow the Car at speeds below 200mph (321km/h). The wheel brakes will only contribute about one percent of the total braking effort, reducing the stopping distance by around half a mile.  Braking speed is critical, as using the wheel brakes above 200mph (321km/h) will exceed their energy capacity and set fire to them.  

During a 1000mph (1,609km/h) run, BLOODHOUND SSC will cover 12miles (19.3km) in 2 minutes, exerting an acceleration force of almost 2G and peak deceleration force of 3G on Andy. This long-duration G force is another experience unique to BLOODHOUND: an F1 driver may experience higher G forces, but they only do so for a few seconds at a time. Andy will be sat in a carbon fibre seat, moulded to his body shape by Real Equip, and manufactured by URT Group.  This seat installation will provide unparalleled levels of support and safety for the driver, who will be angled back and strapped in using a Willans five point harness. Andy will also wear a Pro Ultra HANS device, to protect his neck from sudden, violent movements or decelerations, and an Arai helmet.

The cockpit also carries a Camlock air supply, feeding clean breathing air to Andy through the ‘Adom’ mask used by RAF Typhoon pilots.  This full-face race spec helmet, mated to a jet fighter-style breathing system, is again unique to BLOODHOUND and combines the best driver protection features from both motorsport and aerospace. A Willans fire suppression system has also been specified, which will douse the cockpit in foam should built-in infrared sensors detect naked flames.

Driver safety has been the prime design and engineering objective throughout BLOODHOUND’S gestation and the team has worked closely with motor racing’s governing world body, the Fédération Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA) to create the best safety cell in the history of motor sport.

The cockpit is also a showcase for the extraordinary skills of UK manufacturing. The BLOODHOUND Project is grateful for the support of a raft world-class companies who share our ambition to inspire a generation to follow science and engineering by building, and racing, the most extraordinary Car in the world.

Tesla: All Our Patent Are Belong To You

From the Tesla Motors Blog: Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.

Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal. Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.

When I started out with my first company, Zip2, I thought patents were a good thing and worked hard to obtain them. And maybe they were good long ago, but too often these days they serve merely to stifle progress, entrench the positions of giant corporations and enrich those in the legal profession, rather than the actual inventors. After Zip2, when I realized that receiving a patent really just meant that you bought a lottery ticket to a lawsuit, I avoided them whenever possible.

At Tesla, however, we felt compelled to create patents out of concern that the big car companies would copy our technology and then use their massive manufacturing, sales and marketing power to overwhelm Tesla. We couldn't have been more wrong. The unfortunate reality is the opposite: electric car programs (or programs for any vehicle that doesn't burn hydrocarbons) at the major manufacturers are small to non-existent, constituting an average of far less than 1% of their total vehicle sales.

At best, the large automakers are producing electric cars with limited range in limited volume. Some produce no zero emission cars at all.

Given that annual new vehicle production is approaching 100 million per year and the global fleet is approximately 2 billion cars, it is impossible for Tesla to build electric cars fast enough to address the carbon crisis. By the same token, it means the market is enormous. Our true competition is not the small trickle of non-Tesla electric cars being produced, but rather the enormous flood of gasoline cars pouring out of the world’s factories every day.

We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric cars, and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform. 

Technology leadership is not defined by patents, which history has repeatedly shown to be small protection indeed against a determined competitor, but rather by the ability of a company to attract and motivate the world’s most talented engineers. We believe that applying the open source philosophy to our patents will strengthen rather than diminish Tesla’s position in this regard.

U.S. Senate Votes to Suspend HOS Restart Rule

As reported by Today's Trucking: The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 21-9 in favor of suspending the current 34-hour restart provision of the hours of service (HOS) rule while the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) studies the rule’s impact.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, commented: “It has become clear that the rules have had unintended consequences that are not in best interest of carriers, shippers and the public.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, a national organization that represents small-business truckers, thanked the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee for passing the amendment to suspend the new restart provisions in HOS regulations for one year.

"Truckers have long pointed out the negative impacts of the 2013 changes on their ability to get rest, stay out of busy city traffic, spend time at home, and make a family-supporting income," said OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer.

The amendment also says that FMCSA funding will not include money to enforce the restart rule that took effect last June as part of the new HOS rules.

The amendment suspends the two-night rest requirement and the once-a-week limitation on the restart. The suspension starts after the bill is passed and FMCSA posts public notice, and last until September 30, 2015, or when FMCSA finishes the study.

During that time, the old restart provision is in effect, which means drivers are not required to be off between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. on two straight nights during their restart, and the restriction limiting use of the restart to once a week.

The study must compare the work schedules and fatigue of two groups of drivers: those operating under the pre-2013 provision, and those operating under the new provision.

"The agency cannot simply regulate based upon guesses," Spencer said. "And it should not make a regulatory decision and then create data after the fact that supports the decision. Sadly, the problems with the hours-of-service rule-making are common within the FMCSA."

E-Log mandate
The bill suspending the 34-hour restart rule also sets a deadline for the FMCSA to publish its electronic logging device mandate by January 30, 2015.

The agency was supposed to finish the rule last October but still is in the midst of the rule-making process.
The FMCSA recently extended the comment period on its proposal from May 27 until June 26 at the request of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, which represents state police and other enforcement interests. The Alliance said it needs more time to understand the impact of the technology the agency is proposing.

The mandate will require drivers who use paper logs to eventually switch to electronic logs. It also covers technical standards for the devices and the supporting documents that regulators need to confirm compliance. And it sets requirements to ensure that electronic logs are not used to harass drivers.

The bill says that researchers studying the effects of the 34-hour restart rule should use data collected through ELDs that meet the requirements of the mandate. 

Intel and WiTricity Working on Wireless Charging Tech

As reported by GigaOM: Hoping to rid the world of power cords, WiTricity announced a new technology licensing agreement with Intel on Tuesday. Both the wireless charging company and the chip-maker are board members of the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) which has adopted WiTricity’s Rezence magnetic resonance charging technology.

I recently saw WiTricity’s wireless charging solution in action; earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show the company provided me this demo showing how devices can be recharged without even touching a charging pad.

With the new agreement, WiTricity will be working with Intel to integrate the Rezence technology into Intel-powered devices. That could mean future computers, tablets, phones and even wearable devices with Intel inside could be recharged simply by putting them on or near a wireless charging pad.

Aside from the fact that both companies are on the same wireless standards body board, there’s another connection. Intel Capital is one of the main investors in WiTricity, which was originally spun out from an MIT project.

Uber's Sign-Ups Jump 850% After European Taxi Driver Strike Snarls Traffic

As reported by CBS News: Taxi-hailing app Uber saw sign-ups jump to record levels on Wednesday, following a rush of publicity as cab drivers across Europe went on strike to protest against the company.

Marketing experts described the strike as an "own goal", after Uber said there had been an 850 percent increase in sign-ups compared to last Wednesday.

Uber accused London taxi union, the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, of being stuck in the "dark ages" and called on the union to cancel the "irresponsible" strike.

Andre Spicer, professor of organisational behavior at Cass Business School, described the strike as "PR gold" for Uber.

"It's an own goal. Uber is top of everyone's minds. Lots of people who have never heard of the app before now know what Uber is," he told CNBC.

He said a company like Uber, which is bringing new technology to the market, faces two main difficulties: visibility and explaining how their technology works.

"Journalists - and even the leaders of the protest - are now talking about the app on the news, and explaining how it works. It gives it 1,000 percent more credibility than if the company did it themselves," he said. 

In an attempt to placate London's protesting taxi drivers, Uber has announced plans to open its app based service up to black cabs, adding that it is a "shame to bring London to a standstill".

Getty Images

London taxis line up on The Mall during a protest against a new smart phone app, 'Uber' on June 11, 2014 in London, England.

As well as Uber services, customers will now be able to hail a black cab from the app, which Uber claims is "good for riders, good for London cabbies, and good for the local economy".

Gridlock across Europe

Taxi drivers in London begun their protest Wednesday afternoon, creating gridlock around central tourist hotspots Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Parliament Square over claims Uber is in breach of taxi meters regulation.

Taxi drivers insist that because the Uber system calculates its fare according to distance and time, it is the same as a meter, which only black cabs are regulated to use. London's transport regulator, Transport for London (TfL), has asked the High Court to give a final decision on whether Uber is breaking the law or not.

Black cab driver and representative of trade union Unite, Peter Rose, who is helping to lead protests in London, said Uber's inclusion black cabs was clearly a "deflection" and doubted there would be any real take-up of the offer.

"There is no history of cab drivers using private hire firms. It isn't about Uber, this is about TfL. TfL should be acting like a proper regulator," he said.

Jo Bertram, general manager at Uber U.K. and Ireland, told CNBC: "In our view, the Uber app on a drivers' smart phone is not a taxi meter, the private hire laws were written in 1998 before smart phones were even invented. TfL have also shared their view its not a taxi meter."

Protests are also underway across Europe, and in Milan, Uber is offering a 20 percent discount on passengers journeys in response to the strikes.

Minister of Transport Maurizio Lupi has questioned the legality of the taxi app as only drivers with a license can operate in the country and two Uber cars have already been confiscated by the police this year.

But Benedetta Arese Lucini, managing director of Uber Italy, said she was not concerned about the outlawing of Uber in Italy, adding: "We are suggesting a new way forward, that is what the market is asking for."

Protests backfire

Professor Spicer added that there was a long precedent of protests encouraging the opposite behavior. For example, in the 1980s and 1990s there was moral opposition to rap groups including N.W.A. and Public Enemy because of the strong language used on their records.

"But this moral crusading gave the bands a certain aura - people thought they sounded cool and wanted to try them out. A similar thing is happening now with Uber. This protest is making it look interesting," he added.

Ad Shock: VW Shows Moviegoers What It's Like to Text and Drive

As reported by The Verge: 

It's well documented that texting while driving has become an increasing problem over the years. Advertising agency Ogilvy Beijing recently demonstrated exactly what can happen if you take your eyes off the road to look at your phone. Patrons at a movie theater in Hong Kong were shown a VW commercial as part of the pre-show trailer reel, depicting a car driving on a quiet road. Using a local broadcasting system, the agency sent out a mass text to everyone in the room during the commercial, causing those with mobiles to check their phones. While they glanced down, the on-screen car then careened off the road into the tree, before the ad hammered home its message, pointing out that "mobile use is now the leading cause of death behind the wheel."

While that stat isn't true everywhere, distracted driving is an issue across the globe; US government statistics suggest approximately 660,000 drivers are "using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving" at any given time.