Re: Air Force Signs Off on SRB-CEV

Brian Thorn <bthorn64@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>"Ed Kyle" <edkyle99@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>If you are going to argue getting rid of a launch
>>vehicle line to save money, why not get rid of the
>>more expensive (Delta IV) line, which is a duplicate
>>of the Atlas V line?
>
>Because Delta IV is the most versatile of the three. It can be
>tailored for -Heavy, -Medium and -Lite. An Atlas 5-Lite would be
>severe overkill.

Why? We care about launch cost, not capacity. If a Atlas V-lite
with a $1.5 million dollar Star-48 solid upper stage instead of the
Centaur can orbit 5-6 tons, why not use it for doing that?
And a lot more with a larger solid on top...

Nothing says that the payload has to be as *small* as the
existing replaced launcher; just that it doesn't *cost* more.
I'm sure that if you offered the small payload people the
option of several times more mass orbited for the same fixed
low end dollar value, they'd take it. Those unable to make
use of the extra mass would find someone else to dual manifest,
carry a bunch of Cubesats, or if push comes to shove mount a
large water tank on top of the vehicle.


-george william herbert
gherbert@xxxxxxxxx

.

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