Henry Spencer wrote:

On reflection, I think the problem here is that this flight was serving
double duty.

It was partly a test flight, gathering data on performance etc. for
planned analysis. Test flights can be successful even if they don't
complete their flight plan, because the *data* is the primary objective.

Unfortunately, this was also a qualification flight, which is supposed to
verify something that you're already (supposedly) pretty damn sure of.
For a qualification flight not to complete its flight plan is a major
unpleasant surprise and definitely constitutes failure.

Very well put.

What are the odds on the USAF wanting to put a $1 billion recce bird on top
of the next one? Also good luck finding any commercial customers for the
next flight.

I think they'll have to have another test flight with another test payload.
Only if that works will the market trust the rocket with a real payload.

Still great to see a new heavy-duty US launcher, especially one with so much
upgrade potential.

--
Malcolm Street
Canberra, Australia
The nation's capital