Unlike Vulcan, which is still a paper rocket, and Falcon 9, which has yet to fly defense missions, Atlas V has 53 successful missions under its belt. This long history of reliability will be an attractive selling point for the government customer, which is intolerant of launch risk, especially when lofting payloads sometimes costing as much as $1 billion.
Furthermore, Atlas V has earned a reputation of being on time, a key requirement for some missions with very tight launch windows. Some government officials are concerned SpaceX has not consistently performed in optimal launch windows.
“Compared to starting with a clean-sheet launch system, upgraded launch pad and clean sheet engine, we believe that re-engining the Atlas V is the lowest cost, risk and schedule solution to getting the U.S. off of dependence on Russian engines,” King tells Aviation Week in an email. He notes that the company has been under contract to NASA for the past two and a half years developing and demonstrating kerosene-powered booster stages and engines. This work will provide lessons on the Atlas V re-engining project.
Here’s their problem, though:
Aerojet Rocketdyne officials have been openly frustrated by slow progress by the Air Force in crafting a strategy for a propulsion program. A traditional Pentagon contractor with less access to private funding, Aerojet Rocketdyne has been lobbying hard for government money to augment its work on the engine while propulsion for Falcon variants and the Vulcan are privately funded.
This means the Aerojet/Dynetics/Schafer team will likely rely on a more traditional government funding model to bring their design to fruition while ULA and SpaceX tap private cash at a time when defense spending is under pressure.
Led by the old guard of Griffin and King, it’s a thrashing dinosaur.
Here’s more at Reuters.
The story all made sense when Mike Griffin’s name entered the picture, along with the info that the plan would be to make the rocket in Alabama. ( yes, Senator Shelby, your fingerprints are all over this).
The hilarious posturing of trying to paint Vulcan as a paper rocket, and Falcon as an unproven platform yet to fly in a qualified configuration for USAF launches, as compared to their proposal for a brand new Atlas V is about what can be expected from anything Mr. Mike Griffin is associated with. How exactly do they propose to integrate a brand new AR-1 with a completely new group of workers, engineers, and management making their first attempt at integrating propulsion, avionics, core production, payload integration, etc. with the same level of risk as the current ULA Atlas V? Is it deserving of the same risk assessment just because the blueprints somewhat match, and engine output is close to the RD-180? NO!
This consortia of companies is the animated corpse of government inc. rocketry. First rule for zombies is double tap to the head. In this case, I think SpaceX and ULA/ Blue Origen, and any other newcomers should raid the brainpower and talent at Rocketdyne. Rocketdyne’s credibility is what animates this corpse, so go after that.
Mike Griffin couldn’t get the contractors to deliver a working 5 segment solid rocket in the final configuration for the “Stick” and he thinks they can deliver a staged combustion, oxygen rich, pump-fed LOX/Kerosene liquid rocket engine in less time than their bogus Ares-IX “launch” from program start? Amusing.
I think the key word by Aerojet here is “prototype”. As in not something you could actually use to launch real payloads with. Integration and polishing off in one year? Good luck.
BTW you can read my previous comments on this proposal here:
http://www.transterrestrial.com/?p=60180
Anyone who thinks Aerojet can deliver a working engine with these specifications in 4 years is on crack. I am sure Aerojet have worked on this problem on and off on their spare time for quite some time now but ain’t gonna work that way.
Well maybe if they gave it Manhattan Project levels of funding and kidnapped people from SpaceX and Blue Origin, stuffed them in a sharashka with the NKVD watching them then they could do it in 4 years.
Whoring comes in many types doesn’t it?
I’m reminded of a few lines from “Bug Jack Barron” by Norman Spinrad:
“it’s a really bad feeling to sell out but the worst feeling is trying to sell out when nobody is buying”. Exact quote not guaranteed.
Mike Griffin is attracted to the wrong side of history like a moth to light.