Brian Thorn wrote:
Well, these pretty pictures are all definitely for public relations
and politics, not engineering. But you can easily make the same claim
about the LockMart Atlas-5 based heavy-lifter in this week's AvLeak.
At least for the SDLV, all the essential elements have either been
tested or are in service, even the 5-segment SRB. The Atlas 5 Super
Heavy seems to require new tooling for a wider core stage and a new
pad to launch it from.

That part of that AWST issue that I found most
interesting was the statement attributed to Boeing VP
Chuck Allen. He said that the Northrop/Boeing's CEV
design could be launch by *existing* Delta IV vehicles.
That does not jive with pronoucements made by both
Griffin and ATK officials that the EELVs would need
new upper stages (just like "The Stick") to lift CEV.

- Ed Kyle