washington u.s. senate arm service committee chairman john mccain thursday urge defense secretary ash carter investigate call trouble remark former senior unite launch alliance executive company deal pentagon brett tobey resign wednesday vice president engineer ula joint venture lockheed martin corp boeing co comment colorado university post space news trade publication remark tobey contradict ula reason skip competition launch gps satellite say defense department bend backwards lean field ula advantage competition new market entrant spacex also say pentagon try figure silence mccain urge government penalize ula fail bid competition despite receive 800 million support fund launch service every year committee treat utmost seriousness implication department show favoritism major defense contractor efforts make silence members congress mccain tell carter hear u.s. defense department fiscal 2017 budget request ula say tobey remark inaccurate ula sole provider u.s. military launch nearly decade scramble restructure compete space exploration technologies spacex ula last year say skip gps-3 launch competition lack require account systems enough russian-built rd-180 engines power atlas rocket due ban impose congress russia annexation ukraine region crimea tobey say ula want get price shootout spacex since launch cost 125 million close 200 million include separate launch support contract compare around 60 million spacex carter respond mccain request full investigation comment former ula executive winston beauchamp deputy undersecretary air force space immediate comment tobey remark say air force conclude could penalize ula bid gps-3 launch competition since requirements company bid also note launch support contract solely associate launch already award ula early block buy contract senator mccain want pentagon probe unite launch executive 's remark