The strategic forces subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing this afternoon on national security space policy and programs in the FY2006 budget proposal. Several witnesses, including acting Air Force Secretary Peter Teets as well as the commanders of the US Strategic Command and Air Force Space Command, are scheduled to testify. Unfortunately, there is no webcast of the hearing available. (Side note: if rumors are true, this could be one of the last appearances of the Hill for Teets, who is expected to announce his retirement within the next several weeks.)
One of the topics that may come up during the hearing, the Washington Post reports today, is the development of the Common Aero Vehicle (CAV), a suborbital vehicle that could carry half a ton of payload—sensors or munitions—thousands of kilometers. The CAV is part of DARPA’s Falcon program (which was formerly FALCON, or Force Application and Launch from CONUS, although the agency appears to no longer use the acronym); most space advocates know Falcon for its other major component, the development of a responsive small launch vehicle (SLV) that could carry the CAV, as well as launch small satellites into orbit. Four companies, including SpaceX and its own Falcon launch vehicle, have Phase 2 SLV study contracts.
