NASA told me in September; “Because [the electromechanical actuator] has the potential to reduce operations costs in the long run. [It is a] technology study effort at this point. If we did, we would likely do as a downsteam upgrade.”
I guess that would go along with the nozzle extension upgrade for lunar missions. However things looked bleaker for the EM TVC when NASA announced this on 1 October
“This…is intended to notify industry that the agency is still refining its requirements for the Ares Electric TVC Prototype Risk Reduction Procurement based upon consideration of industry comments and agency reviews. As such, the release of the final RFP will be postponed until further notice”
The final RFP was to be released on 1 October. The draft RFP can be found here
