A lawsuit filed by SpaceX against the United States Air Force (USAF) has been referred to mediation in hopes of settling out of court.  The suit had asked a federal court to void a contract the USAF awarded to United Launch Alliance (ULA) for rocket cores designed to launch military satellites into orbit.  SpaceX, which has been working for years to receive certification from the USAF to bid on military contracts, claimed that the USAF’s delay in awarding certification and award of the contract before it did so gave ULA a guaranteed default award because there was no competition. 

ULA, for its part, asked the court to dismiss the suit, but the court denied the motion and ordered SpaceX and the USAF into mediation.  The USAF informed the court that it would delay decisions on other contracts until later in 2015.  SpaceX has been waiting for more than a year for its certification and has claimed the delay is intentional to ensure that ULA wins the contracts the USAF wishes them to have.  SpaceX also claimed the USAF had denied them information necessary to prepare bids, again citing their lack of certification.  The court ordered the USAF to provide this information. 

The Justice Department, representing the USAF in the matter, has filed two motions for dismissal that the court has not yet responded to.  These decisions will likely not come until the mediation process has been concluded, either successfully or unsuccessfully.