"Damon Hill" wrote in message
31...
"Allen Thomson" wrote in
ups.com:


The current political events in Ukraine got me to wondering
about the continued availability of Zenit. Which then
led to the thought that Atlas V is rather Zenit-like in
design and operations.

Has anybody looked into the possibility of sea launch
for A-V?

That won't be easy; Atlas has a separate cryogenic (LH2)
upper stage that the Sea Launch platform isn't equipped
to service. Zenit is mostly plugged in at the base
with all propellant plumbing in through there; the Centaur
upper stage requires a service mast.

Atlas V has a somewhat similar payload, if the Sea Launch
platform could handle solid strapons.

Atlas is integrated vertically; might be some issues in
adapting it to horizontal integration and handling.

Big show-stopper is if the RD-180 engines, made in the
Ukraine, became unavailable. LockMart may have a Plan
B for that contingency, but it might require a good
bit of time to implement.

The RD-180 is made in Khimki, a Moscow suburb, just like the Zenit engine,
the RD-171.


In summary, we already have good EELV land facilities; if
Zenit became unavailable, Sea Launch is probably dead in the
water.

--Damon

Murray Anderson