To: ROBERT BRADT who wrote (402 ) 7/27/1998 10:06:00 PM From: Alaskaman Respond to of 680
This is from a posting a while back before the START II treaty shut them down. It doesn't specify the minuteman. Does anyone know if the eagle series is used in the minuteman? Here you go though this is what I found on this company which sounded very exciting when I read it. E'Prime Aerospace E'Prime Aerospace Corporation has successfully completed design, developed technology and acquired permits and licenses for the Eagle S-Series launch vehicles. The E'Prime Eagle S-Series commercial launch vehicles are derived from Peacekeeper technology. The Peacekeeper, the last generation ICBM, has had 41 consecutive successful launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base. E'Prime Aerospace deploys solid booster rocket technology for the Eagle S-Series launch vehicles. Eagle canister launch vehicle capabilities range from delivering a satellite payload of 1200 pounds to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to over 10,000 pounds to LEO or over 4,500 pounds to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). The Eaglet, Eagle, SI and SII are canister launched vehicles. The Eagle can deliver 3,000 pounds to 100 nautical mile LEO at a current price of $12 million. First launch of the Eagle series is anticipated in the first quarter of 1999. The larger Eagle SIII through SVI launch vehicles, utilising strap-ons, are launched from a conventional hot pad. Launch vehicle capabilities range to delivering over 40,000 pounds to LEO and over 13,000 pounds to GTO. Current plans are to launch the large vehicles from Cape Canaveral. The canister launch does not require construction of a conventional hot pad and allows for repetitive launches at a rate of one per week. In a canister launch, steam from a hot gas generator propels the rocket 200 feet in the air where ignition takes place. This canister launch system, a combination of solid propellant stages and bi-propellant liquid upper stage, permits the Eagles to outperform older and costlier rocket launchers on the market. The system provides simplified vehicle and payload processing: Eagle assembly and checkout requires only 5 days and a crew of 12. Stages are shipped from the manufacturer in canister segments which serve as shipping containers.