meyerson and miss van kleeck answered that in their opening statement. i was interested in your opening statement, you implied you are going to get into competition for this replacement engine. was that an accurate interpretation of your opening statement? >> yes sir. we certainly are working towards that end. >> excellent. mr. thorne burlg,burg, are you planning on getting in the competition and can you have it done by 2019? >> through our existing launch vehicles we can provide 100% of the nation's needs for national security space missions. in addition we'll continue our investment in next generation propulsion systems and capability to further increase the u.s.' position in propulsion -- >> my understanding is you're talking about you can use your falcon nine 1.1 and falcon heavy when it is certified to compete for the mission but you're not planning to get into the competition to develop a propulsion system to fit on the atlas 5. >> we're invest internally and next generation propulsion systems like raptor and happy to have a conversation about how

van kleeck? >> i assume you're representing the current acquisition process that's under way. >> yes, ma'am. >> and there's a process that's well spelled out in that. it does focus on an ultimate launch service as opposed to an engine. but it's spelled out. i think there's a lot of different paths that that particular process can go. >> mr. culbertson. >> yes, sir. we understand the requirements of the air force and what they're looking for and we think it is focused on a system that could be developed in a public/private partnership that would give the government the most openings for competition as well as success. >> with regards to the ongoing source selection activity i don't think it's appropriate for me to comment on that right now because i wouldn't want to upset anything that would undo that source selection. >> do you have any comment on this? you're not building an engine but you're going to be buying it. >> i believe the requirements and the rps activity that you're referring to are v