Lockheed Martin is to launch its first Atlas V evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV) commercially in mid-2002, the USAir Force (USAF) has revealed.
The company has declined to give details of the first launch, including which version of the Atlas V will fly first, except to say that it will carry a commercial payload but will not be for Teledesic, its only announced customer. "We are in conversation with other customers," says the company.
The first flight of Boeing's Delta IV EELV will be a commercial launch in November next year. This will be followed by the first USAF launch under the EELV contract of a defence satellite communications system in May 2002 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The USAF says its first Atlas V launch under the EELV contract will be in the second half of 2003. This will also be from Cape Canaveral - under a restructuring of the contract, Lockheed Martin is no longer required to build a West Coast launch pad at Vandenberg, California.
Also as a result of the restructuring, two of Lockheed Martin's nine EELV launches have been transferred to Boeing, which now has 21 missions. The missions transferred are Defense Support Program early-warning satellite and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program launches from Vandenberg. Lockheed Martin will complete the design and qualification of the Atlas V heavylift variant under the restructured contract, but "we will not build it until we sell it," the company says.
Lockheed Martin originally requested the contract restructuring with the USAF because it does not believe the market for West Coast and heavylift launches can support two competitors. Instead, the company will focus its efforts on launches of the Atlas V Series 400 and 500 from the East Coast.
Requiring Lockheed Martin to completely develop the Atlas V Heavy ensures the company is in a position to provide back-up for the full range of Boeing Delta IV vehicles, the USAF says.
West Coast launches of the Atlas V could be performed from the existing Vandenberg Atlas II.3 launch pad, says Lockheed Martin.
Source: Flight International
