ValveTech, a manufacturer previously hired by Boeing supplier Aerojet Rocketdyne to build valves for Starliner’s propulsion system, is warning NASA to “immediately halt” the spacecraft’s first crewed launch, which may come as early as Friday.

The company—which sued Aerojet in 2017 alleging a violation of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) and misuse of trade secrets—urged the space agency to “redouble safety checks and re-examine safety protocols” before the mission, which was scrubbed on May 6 due to a valve issue.

The faulty valve was located on United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V rocket, which will launch Starliner into orbit. Tory Bruno, president and CEO of ULA, addressed ValveTech president Erin Faville’s comments directly in a post on social media platform X.

“Not sure what to say about this one,” Bruno wrote. “Close to none of it is correct: Not urgent. Not leaking. Etc. Remarkable that the particular person quoted doesn’t seem to know how this type of valve works…”

ValveTech says it supplies 14 valve components to Starliner vendors, but ULA tells FLYING it is not one of them. ValveTech did not immediately respond to FLYING’s request for comment.

Starliner has been described by NASA as a redundant alternative to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, which so far has flown eight Commercial Crew astronaut rotation missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Starliner, similarly, was designed as a reusable spacecraft to ferry astronauts to low-Earth orbit destinations.

The Starliner CFT, which had already been delayed several times, was scrubbed earlier this month due to an oscillating pressure regulation valve on the Atlas V rocket, forcing NASA to push back the launch to no earlier than Friday at 6:16 p.m. EDT.

Although NASA and ULA have already investigated and decided to remove and replace the valve, Faville warned against catastrophe should they attempt another launch.

“As a valued NASA partner and as valve experts, we strongly urge them not to attempt a second launch due to the risk of a disaster occurring on the launchpad,” said Faville. “According to media reports, a buzzing sound indicating the leaking valve was noticed by someone walking by the Starliner minutes before launch. This sound could indicate that the valve has passed its life cycle.”

NASA and ULA made no mention of a leaking valve in their assessments of the incident, saying only that the valve was oscillating abnormally.

“After evaluating the valve history, data signatures from the launch attempt, and assessing the risks relative to continued use, the ULA team determined the valve exceeded its qualification and mission managers agreed to remove and replace the valve,” NASA wrote in a blog post.

Faville later clarified that she is not calling for a permanent end to the Starliner program but rather a more thorough assessment of safety concerns.

“What I said was that NASA needs to redouble safety checks and re-examine safety protocols to make sure the Starliner is safe before trying to launch the Starliner again,” said Faville. “As a valued NASA partner, it would make no sense and not be in my company’s interest to end this mission.”

Since parting ways in 2017, ValveTech and Aerojet, a division of defense contractor L3Harris, have been tangled in a prolonged legal dispute. That year, ValveTech filed suit alleging that Aerojet breached NDAs and misused trade secrets in developing the flight valve for Starliner’s service module propulsion system.

In November, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York ruled that Aerojet had indeed breached two NDAs—awarding ValveTech $850,000 in damages—but had not misappropriated trade secrets.

According to Payload Space, the company sought further restrictions on Aerojet, but a judge closed the case on May 6.

In its statement regarding the May 6 launch scrub, ValveTech raised concerns about an earlier issue with one of Starliner’s valves. But the events appear to be unrelated.

In August 2021, Boeing scrubbed Starliner’s first uncrewed flight test due to a problem with the spacecraft’s service module propulsion system—the same system ValveTech alleges Aerojet built using trade secrets.

ValveTech alleges that “NASA, Boeing, and Aerojet…qualified this valve for [Starliner CFT] without proper supporting data or previous history or legacy information,” citing witness testimony from its November trial.

However, according to NASA and ULA, the incident on May 6 involved a pressure regulation valve on ULA’s Atlas V rocket—not the service module, which is on the Starliner capsule itself.

“The concerns raised by ValveTech in relation to the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission are not applicable to the pressure regulation valve with off nominal performance during the first launch attempt,” a ULA spokesperson told FLYING.

ValveTech and Faville’s comments appear unlikely to deter NASA and Boeing from attempting a second Starliner CFT launch as early as Friday.

The companies have a $4.2 billion contract that includes six Commercial Crew rotation missions to the ISS on an unspecified timeline. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon already fills that role for the space agency. But NASA hopes to put a second spacecraft in the rotation for redundancy in the case of a contingency.

Safety, of course, remains a priority for the space agency. But with the program now several years behind schedule and an estimated $1.5 billion over budget, stakeholders will be eager to see Starliner fly with a crew as soon as possible.

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The post ULA Pushes Back on Warning to NASA to Halt Boeing Starliner Launch appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The FTC alleges that if the deal is allowed to proceed, Lockheed will use its control of Aerojet to harm rival defense contractors and further consolidate multiple markets critical to national security and defense.

“As disclosed in our earnings release this morning, we thought it highly likely that the FTC would sue to block the transaction. Since that time, we have received notification from the FTC that they have, in fact, authorized filing a lawsuit,” Taiclet said.

In the meantime, Aerojet also issued a statement to its shareholders and the press announcing the FTC’s decision but held its position that the deal would be a good fit.

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“Aerojet Rocketdyne continues to believe in the benefits of the transaction for the United States and its allies, the industry, and all of the company’s stakeholders.”

Unfortunately for Aerojet, the news wiped out as much as 18 percent of its share price, causing it to tumble from $45.07 before the news to $36 at the close.

On Lockheed’s earnings call, analysts sought to uncover the implications if the deal does not go through, especially as it relates to Lockheed Martin’s hypersonic strategy.

Lockheed’s acting CFO, John Mollard, said the merger was in the best interest of Lockheed’s three biggest customers, which happen to be the three largest military services in the U.S.

“One of the benefits of integrating vertically with propulsion and what’s called the glide body, which is the heat-absorbing part of the missile, and then the full air system that supports the missile either out of the tube or off the airplane, the more you can integrate that engineering organization, probably the faster you could go,” Mollard explained.

“We think we could have [obtained] the speed and efficiency increase by partial vertical integration of hypersonic through the [Aerojet] acquisition specifically,” concluded Mollard.

As for how Lockheed will proceed, Taiclet explained that the agreement with Aerojet offers a 30-day window to file a countersuit and that the company’s board would focus on that in the next few weeks.

Solid Financials

As far as the company’s earnings, Lockheed reported better-than-expected earnings for both the fourth quarter and the full year. Net sales for the quarter totaled $17.7 billion. For the year, the company took in $67 billion.

F-35 Program Sees Strong Demand

Meanwhile, the company broke out the results of its four segments on the call. The aeronautics segment—the largest by revenue—saw sales increase 6 percent year over year to $7.12 billion due to strong demand for the F-35 fighter jet and other classified contracts.

Despite global supply issues, Lockheed delivered 142 F-35s in 2021, three more than its original target, and 22 more than it did in 2020.

Its missiles and fire control program also reported strong revenues, recording a 12 percent increase compared to the same quarter in 2020 to $3.22 billion, and a 4 percent bump to 11.6 billion for the entire year, over the same period in 2020.

Even though the company had installed components on the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope, its space segment recorded the lowest percentage of sales—in fact, losing 10 percent of its business to $2.9 billion. For the full year, it only lost 1 percent, earning $11.81 billion, down from the $11.88 billion it recorded in the previous year.

Company Expects Hypersonics Business to be Big

In the statement, Taiclet shared the company’s focus for the future, which is one investing in emerging technology.

“Through our strong balance sheet, we continue to invest in the many emerging growth opportunities ahead—from new aircraft competitions around the world to our classified portfolio, to solid demand for our signature programs, to emerging technologies like hypersonics.”

On the call, Mollard shared that their long-term sales expectations for the hypersonics business was that it could reach as much as $3 billion by 2026.

“Looking ahead to 2022, we will remain fully dedicated to service to our customers and dynamic and disciplined capital allocation for the benefit of our shareholders,” Taiclet said in the release.

Taiclet even offered that Lockheed was in a good position to outlast any supply-chain disruption.

“We think the bow wave has passed in supply-chain disruption for Lockheed Martin, but we’re still watching it closely,” he said.

As for guidance, Lockheed predicts that for the full-year 2022, earnings per share will be $26.70 on $66 billion in revenue.

At the close of business Tuesday, its share price was up 3.5 percent to $387.

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