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AF Eyes Potential $2B Savings From Integrated Launch Range Support Contract

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spacex launchThe U.S. Air Force anticipates savings in launch range operations as its integrated range support contract with a Raytheon and General Dynamics joint venture goes into effect this month, Aviation Week reported Monday.

Amy Butler writes that the Launch and Test Range Integrated Support Contract with Range Generation Next could potentially facilitate savings of $1.8 billion over 10 years.

LISC consolidates three separate contracts for range operations, maintenance and modernization at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Vandenberg Air Force Base launch facilities, the report said.

Butler also notes that the contract has a fixed-price, incentive-fee structure, through which the Air Force seeks to control costs.

According to the report, the launch ranges will see new launch systems over the next 10 years, including SpaceX‘s Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 v1.1 and United Launch Alliance‘s potential Atlas V replacement.

Col. Keith Balts, commander of the 30th Space Wing and the Western Range at Vandenberg, said that LISC’s ultimate goal is to continue the launch pace, which he says has picked up in recent years.

Butler reports that the first launch under the LISC program was on April 10, while the first Western Range mission is scheduled for June.

Col. Janet Grondin, chief of the spacelift range and network system division of the Space and Missile Systems Center, said that LISC could next include upgrade work for the launch ranges’ communications systems and destruct functions.

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