[17th Miss Regt]

The statement said ULA is unable to certify that funds from other government contracts will not benefit the GPS 3 launch, a requirement spelled out in the Air Force's request for proposals.

That is very interesting. Why? As long as they are not using money from other contracts to execute the contract, why should there be a requirement that funds from other government contracts not to benefit the GPS 3 launch?

[driftdiver]

Probably so they could steer the contract to the politically connected SpaceX.

[Rockitz]

ULA has other existing launch contracts from the government since it's been sole source for DoD flights since the early 2000s. SpaceX almost certainly would have protested based on that provision had ULA bid and received the award. The accounting bill to prove that provision could easily bankrupt ULA. Personally, I think it was a savvy move by ULA. In rockets, you get what you pay for in terms of reliability. SpaceX is a long way from being a reliable provider of launch services as we recently observed on the F20 failure.