Amid an uncertain market, Boeing and Lockheed Martin are reporting smooth sailing as they prepare their respective Delta 4 and Atlas 5 rockets for debut launches this summer.
Officials with Boeing say they have resolved snags with Delta 4’s main engine and launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Officials with the U.S. Air Force, which helped sponsor the development of the Delta 4 and Atlas 5, are confident that both programs are on track.
But the market outlook for launch services is far less rosy than it appeared in 1997, when the Air Force decided to fund two new rocket families under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The Atlas 5 and Delta 4 ultimately were selected for that program.
NASA Human Space Flight Chief Tapped for Agency’s No. 2 Job
WASHINGTON — U.S. President George W. Bush intends to nominate Frederick D. Gregory, NASA’s human space flight chief to move up to the space agency’s number two slot, the White House announced May 8.
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Space News Business
Despite Market, Japan and India Pursue Launch Vehicle Upgrades India and Japan are continuing to upgrade their respective launch vehicles in spite of the fact that the global market for launch services is not expected to pick up for the forseeable future. --Frank Braun, Paul Kallender & K.S. Jayaraman
Coordinated Environmental Observation Plan Begins European governments have begun an ambitious program in Earth observation that, if successful, will result by 2008 in a coordinated global environment-monitoring system with an assured base of government and commercial customers for data from a wide variety of satellites and ground-based sensors. --Peter de Selding
