The Defense Department is withholding $46.5 million in reimbursements from Lockheed Martin until the company fixes deficiencies in its earned value management system that the company uses to track costs and schedules for the F-35 strike fighter, reported Bloomberg. That amount totals five percent of two F-35 production contracts and a smaller development agreement for Israel, according to the Oct. 26 report. Lockheed Martin President Chris Kubasik told reporters during a teleconference on Oct. 24 that the company had made progress in resolving the issue. “We have a corrective action plan that has been approved, and we are executing to that,” he said. “We are having status checks monthly, and by all accounts everybody is satisfied with the progress that we are making,” he added.
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.