Launch Services Providers Focus On Building Larger Rockets, Faster [Info on Baikonour]
satellitetoday.com
Monday, Feb 8
by Paul Dykewicz, Senior Analyst, Satellite
News
Pressure is mounting for commercial launch companies to build rockets
bigger and faster - within 12 months to 18 months rather than the more
typical 24 months-36 months, to match the swifter production cycles of
satellite builders.
The change requires huge investments by the launch companies, industry
executives agreed at the recent Pacific Telecommunications Conference.
The upgrades in upgrading rockets and launch facilities over the last ten
years or so already have cost billions of dollars.
"We've invested more than $1 billion since 1987, and we've invested well
over $100 million in facility improvements and commercialization of the
launch facilities at the Baikonour Cosmodrome for the Proton rocket, said
Ed Ward, vice president of commercial business development at
International Launch Services (ILS), which markets the Atlas and
Proton commercial launch vehicles.
Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] builds the Atlas. The company's
Russian partners, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space
Center, manufactures the Proton launch vehicle while RSC Space
Energia builds the Block D-M upper stage of the Proton.
The ever-shortening procurement cycle is "the most dramatic change [of]
the past ten years," Ward said. "People who would literally plan ahead for
36 months [have] become people who plan ahead for 24 months... We are
seeing clients who want to launch 12 months from the day they sign the
contract."
Launchers are investing in the deployment of larger, more powerful and
increasingly efficient launch vehicles to meet the turnaround demand, said
Tom Parkinson, division director of Boeing Expendable Launch
Services [BA]. The planned Delta IV rocket is a case in point. It is
designed to reduce the costs associated with putting birds into
geostationary transfer orbit, Parkinson said.
Parkinson is confident the cost of building launchers will fall. He pointed to
the lower costs associated with launching a Delta II today compared with
eight years ago. Without identifying the cost, Parkinson said Boeing is
redesigning its existing launch pads and planning to build new ones to
accommodate its various new launch vehicles.
A downsized Delta IV to replace the Delta II is one possibility, but no
decision has yet to be made. The Delta II has been one of the industry's
top performers since 1960 with a 94.7 percent launch success rate. It has
recorded a 97.7 percent success rate since October 1997.
Arianespace successfully introduced the Ariane 5 last year. The proven
Ariane 4 launcher family has been in operation since 1988 and can carry
payloads of up to 4,500 kg. (9,900 lb.) into geostationary transfer orbit in
a dual-payload configuration. To date, Ariane 4s have placed a combined
total payload weight of more than 260,000 kg. (573,000 lb.) into orbit,
said Chuck Burch, an Arianespace executive.
The Ariane 5 is designed to be a highly versatile launcher that offers the
industry's first 5 meter fairing to handle larger satellites, such as the
proposed Space Systems/Loral [LOR] 20.20 satellite that will be
available in 2003.
Amy Buhrig, vice president of marketing for the Boeing-backed Sea
Launch, said her organization's proposed first launch remains on schedule
for liftoff in March. Two previous launch dates were pushed back for a
variety of technical and regulatory reasons. The first satellite that the rocket
will launch is a Loral Orion bird.
The Sea Launch, a joint venture of Boeing Commercial Space
Company, Kvaerner Maritime a.s, RSC Energia, and KB
Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash, is based on a barge that can be moved by sea
to the equator cost-effectively to carry payloads into geosynchroneous
transfer orbit. The rocket can carry 5,000 kg.
Delta III Program Summary
Address launch vehicle market for spacecraft of up to 3.8 metric
tons
Enhance the Delta II to maximize the use of existing technology and
minimize production costs
Introduce enhanced cryogenic upper stage and fairing
Modify the Delta's launch base
Combine the expertise of partners Alliant Techsystems, Boeing
Rocketdyne, Pratt & Whitney and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
SATELLITE 99 Show Coverage
Copyright © 1999 Phillips Publishing International, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole
or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Phillips Publishing
International, Inc. is prohibited. Phillips and the Phillips logo are trademarks of Phillips Publishing
International, Inc.
|
