DARPA, Air Force Kick-Off Falcon Phase 2 Small Launch Vehicle Effort

LAUNCH PAD

The goal of the Falcon SLV program is to develop and demonstrate an affordable and responsive space lift capability.

Arlington (SPX) Sep 20, 2004
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Air Force have awarded funding to four teams for the second phase of the Falcon Small Launch Vehicle (SLV) program. The goal of the Falcon SLV program is to develop and demonstrate an affordable and responsive space lift capability.

Each team was awarded an other transaction for prototypes agreement. The teams and agreement values are:

Airlaunch LLC, Reno Nev.; $11,372,342
Lockheed Martin Corp., Space Systems Co., New Orleans, La.; $11,691,215
Microcosm Inc., El Segundo, Calif.; $10,498,353
cSpace Exploration Technologies Inc., El Segundo, Calif.; $8,000,000

Under the newly awarded agreements, each team will conduct a 10-month phase IIa preliminary design and development effort to mature their launch vehicle designs. In addition, one of the companies, Space Exploration Technologies, will conduct an early, responsive launch demonstration.

Next year, DARPA and the Air Force will select one or more of the phase IIa teams to conduct detailed design and fabrication of their launch vehicle. Phase IIb will culminate in 2007 with flight tests to launch a small satellite to validate vehicle performance.

In addition to DARPA and the Air Force, NASA has also expressed interest in the Small Launch Vehicle capability and is a formal partner in the Falcon Small Launch Vehicle development program.

LAUNCH PAD

Arianespace Signs Two Launch Contracts With DirecTV

Paris (SPX) Sep 09, 2004
Arianespace Thursday announced the signing of its sixth and seventh contracts of the year, and fifth and sixth overall with The DIRECTV Group. The first contract will be for the launch of the Spaceway 2 satellite in April 2005.

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