ULA and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Announce Rocket Engine Partnership

An anonymous reader writes During an event at the National Press Club, Bezos announced an agreement with Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance, the joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to continue development of a new rocket engine for ULA's Atlas and Delta rocket lines. From the article: "Called BE-4, the engine has been in the works at Blue Origin for three years and is currently in testing at the company's West Texas facilities. ULA, founded in 2006, has supplied rockets to the US Department of Defense and NASA and will now co-fund the BE-4 project to accelerate its completion. The agreement is for a four-year development process with testing slated for 2016 and flight in 2019."

Comments

Which is worse: Russia or Bezos

[Required Snark]

So Jeff Bezos, aspiring monopolist, holder of the infamous one click patent, wants to replace Russia as the engine manufacturer for the ULA. Somehow that is so appropriate.

ULA has been a major player in trying to keep US heavy launch platforms dependent on Russian RD-180 engines by any means possible. Their employees in Congress, Representatives Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) have sent a letter to NASA "demanding that the agency investigate what they call 'an epidemic of anomalies' with SpaceX missions".

These three red, white and blue Republicans, defenders of American Freedom, critics of government interference in the market place, gung-ho capitalists, have ULA facilities in their districts. So what would be more natural then their trying to squash competition, make the US vulnerable to foreign pressure, and degrade US excellence in aerospace technology. They would never place campaign contributions and the narrow interests of their constituents ahead of the interests of the USA, would they?

So if Blue Origin and ULA prevail, do you think that Bezos would threaten to deny access to orbit if there were legislation that would negatively impact Amazon's business model or tax breaks? He already seems so in tune with the current ULA congressional caucus.