NASA Administrator and 2019 Wash100 Award winner Jim Bridenstine testified during a Senate hearing that the agency plans to use a commercial rocket to launch the Orion crew capsule for a three-week mission to the Moon, The Verge reported Wednesday.
Exploration Mission 1 was intended to be the debut launch of NASA’s Space Launch System, but has been continually delayed and was recently scheduled for a June 2020 launch. NASA officials are reconsidering the 2020 launch date due to preparation issues. NASA plans to have two launches for EM-1 using two heavy-lift vehicles developed by the private sector. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy and United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy are the two U.S. heavy-lift platforms with the capacity to send large cargo into orbit.
The Wash100 award, now in its sixth year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.
Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2019 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2019.