Air Mobility Command officials Tuesday awarded $2.2 billion in airlift contracts for the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, which lines up commercial airlines to supplement Air Force airlift, principally during emergencies. Awards went to Alliance Contractor Team, with an estimated $1.22 billion; Federal Express Team, $864 million; UPS Team, $121 million; Miami Air Team, $42 million and Continental Airlines, $11 million. Other contracts were awarded to Falcon Air Express, Grand Air Holdings, Lynden Air Cargo, MN Airlines, and Spirit Airlines for contracts between $2,000 and $254,000.
NASA, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance are all preparing to launch their next-gen rockets from Florida’s Space Coast, two of them before the year is out. One is expected to liberate the U.S. launch enterprise from its reliance on Russian-made RD-180 engines, while all three rockets could eventually carry astronaut crews.