The Boeing Delta IV launch vehicle will make its maiden flight on 30 April 2002 from Cape Canaveral's refurbished Pad 37, carrying a Eutelsat Atlantic Bird communications satellite built by Alenia Spazio.
The agreement on the launch is expected to be confirmed shortly. The Eutelsat satellite launch was originally planned for a Chinese Long March booster.
The second Delta IV launch vehicle will carry a US Air Force Defense Space Communications Programme (DSCS) spacecraft on the first USAF flight under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle programme contract.
The first two missions are understood to be flying without insurance, while cover will begin on the third flight and the first fully commercial mission, carrying the Estrala do Sol communications satellite. Fifteen launches are covered by a recently agreed insurance package. The fourth and last Delta IV flight of 2002 will be the first Heavy version.
Boeing claims 18 firm missions for the Delta IV through to 2004, with a further 42 agreed on a provisional basis.
Meanwhile, the Delta IV's 47m (154ft)-tall Boeing Common Core Booster (CCB) has been erected on Pad 37 at Cape Canaveral, Florida after being transferred from the former Saturn 1 pad's adjacent Horizontal Integration Facility.
The CCB, equipped with the Boeing cryogenic RS-68 engine, which has been test fired four times at NASA's Stennis Space Center, will serve as a pathfinder test unit in preparation for the first Delta IV mission.
Source: Flight International