There can be only one winner as McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed Martin lock horns in the battle of the big booster.
At stake is a $2billion contract from the US Air Force to build the next generation of US launchers.
The decision will be made in June 1998. Called the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, the booster will actually be three versions - small, medium and large - and will meet all the needs of the market, both military and commercial. The first EELV flies in 2001.
The USAF's decision next June will give the successful company a huge boost - providing a government-subsidised entry into the commercial launcher market.
Launching satellites is an expensive business: It costs $250million to fly a satellite on a large launcher. The logic of the EELV is that the USAF needs to cut the cost of launching its military spy, communications, early warning, navigation and other satellites by 50%. Thirty-one GPS Block 2F navigation satellites are already manifested for EELV launches.
Accommodate
The EELV will have to be designed around a common core stage and launch pads will have to be able to accommodate each of the three types.
The EELV could save the USAF $5billion by 2002 and $20billion by 2020. So the idea is to replace the existing family of Delta, Atlas and Titan boosters with the EELV.
Lockheed Martin now operates the Atlas and the Titan, while MCD has the Delta - and of course could be part of Boeing soon. The battle of the giants is hotting up.
McDonnell Douglas is pinning its hopes on the Delta 4. Its small, medium and large vehicles will all have the common core stage equipped with a new Rocketdyne high performance cryogenic engine, the most powerful of its type developed. It will be untested in flight until the EELV, however.
Lockheed's proposal also depends on a new engine - a Russian one. The RD-108 is being developed to power the first stage of the new Atlas 2AR commercial launcher, which will have a proven performance before the first EELV test flight.
Source: Flight Daily News
