On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 12:06:54 -0700, Iain Young wrote:



The AUS referenced would appear to be a similar spec to the MB-60, which
according to http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/...opul/mb60.html
should be avaliable 'now'.

The Advanced Upper Stage would presumably use a MB-60 or RL60 (neither of
which appears to be 'available' just at the moment), have more tankage
and be strengthened for the greater thrust and payloads.

Al-Li tanks, higher thrust RS-68 variants and most other improvements could
be added to any existing version of Delta IV and launch pad facility, so
the Delta IV seems to have a solid future--assuming the launch market
is large enough to keep up Boeing's interest.

That bodes moderately well for a real heavy-lift variant of Delta IV
requiring a new launch pad as well as present facilities. I hope Boeing
can keep costs down, but they're going to be facing competition for the
lower end of Delta IV's market.

Boeing also appears to be interested in Kistler and their as-yet
unfinished fully reusable two-stage launcher.

--Damon