rocketcam_000526 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Attention satellite manufacturers and operators: Lockheed Martin says it has "the thrust you can trust," and whats more, the video to prove it.
Basking in the afterglow of its inaugural Atlas 3 flight, the U.S. aerospace giant is trotting out a cool marketing tool: Stunning launch video beamed back by two "rocket-cams" during Wednesdays supersonic trip into space.
Satellite makers and operators so far have been hesitant to book flights on the Atlas 3, largely because some 50 percent of new rockets fail on maiden voyages. Two cases in point: The Ariane 5 and Boeing Delta 3 vehicles, both of which had explosive debuts.
Missed the Atlas 3 launch? Check out what RocketCam saw on its way into orbit.
But the successful first flight of the Atlas 3 coupled with the striking launch video is expected to quickly boost lagging sales of the new Lockheed Martin launcher.
"Needless to say, the customer community has been a bit jaded with first flights in recent years, and many have taken a bit of a wait-and-see attitude," said Dennis Dunbar, vice president of Lockheed Martin International Launch Services, which markets the new booster.
"And clearly, they were able to wait-and-see a spectacular flight."
The product of a five-year, $400 million development program, the Atlas 3 is the first American launcher to feature a Russian rocket engine.
The launch video showcases the so-called RD 180, which is manufactured by NPO Energomash of Khimky, Russia.
Capable of generating more thrust than two U.S. space-shuttle main engines, the RD 180 propelled the Atlas 3 off its launch pad at twice the speed of Lockheed Martins lumbering Atlas 2.
The Atlas 3s rapid departure is clear in the video.
The Atlas 3 rocket at rest
Shots from the rocket-cams which cost about $500,000 to install and operate -- show the Atlas 3 screaming away from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station before providing a birds-eye view of the Florida peninsula.
Small explosive charges can be seen detonating as the first stage of the 17-story rocket dropped away from the vehicle, plummeting toward the Atlantic Ocean.
Split into two pieces, the rockets protective nosecone then can be seen tumbling back toward Earth, and the video shows the rockets second-stage Centaur engine firing high above the blue planet.
"The only word that can describe [the flight] is awesome," said Jerry Josef, an executive with RD-AMROSS, an U.S.-Russian partnership that markets the RD 180 engine. "It was just unbelievable to see that launch and to see the video. It was really spectacular."
Lockheed Martin intends to build 10 more Atlas 3s before introducing its next-generation Atlas 5 rocket in 2002. Only four of those Atlas 3s have been booked to date but company officials expect sales to pick up and quickly.
"We do have a number of missions that we would hope to be able to announce over the next several weeks [with customers] that were perhaps holding back a little on a wait-and-see basis," Dunbar said. "I expect that the phone will be ringing off the hook over the next few weeks."
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