Gen. John Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command said in 2013 — as vice commander — sequestration cuts forced the service to lay off about half of its space operations contractor workforce.

Gen. John Hyten said he was excited about the Blue Origin-ULA partnership on a replacement for the RD-180 engine that powers ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket, but wondered when the new engine might be ready.

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Mike Gruss is the chief content and strategy officer at SpaceNews. From 2013 to 2016 he was a senior reporter at SpaceNews covering military space. Previously, he was editor in chief of Sightline Media Group and worked as a reporter and columnist for...