Secretary of the Air Force, Sheila E. Widnall, announced the
award of two $60 million Pre-Engineering and Manufacturing
Development contracts for the Department of Defense's next
generation of space launch vehicles at a Pentagon press
conference today.
The contractors receiving awards to begin the Pre-EMD
phase of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program are:
Lockheed Martin Corporation, Lockheed Martin Astronautics,
Littleton Colo.; and McDonnell Douglas Corporation,
McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, Huntington Beach, Calif.
EELV's objective is to improve the affordability and
operability of the nation's expendable space launch systems
beyond the turn of the century.
It will replace the current
fleet of medium and heavy launch systems (Delta, Atlas and Titan)
with a single, modular family of launch vehicles.
EELV is expected to reduce the nation's space launch costs
at least 25 percent over existing systems while improving DOD's
ability to meet warfighter operability requirements, according to
Col. Richard McKinney, EELV System Program Director.
The Air Force expects significant cost savings by
standardizing to one family of medium and heavy lift launch
vehicles, improving ground operations, using existing and evolved
system components, and streamlining acquisition and manufacturing
processes.
EELV will also significantly enhance the nation's ability
to compete in the future international commercial launch market,
McKinney said.
During the next 17-months Lockheed Martin Corporation and
McDonnell Douglas Aerospace will continue to mature system
designs, refine cost estimates, and verify producibility,
manufacturing, and affordability improvements.
At the conclusion
of Pre-EMD, the Air Force selects a single contractor for the
Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase with an estimate
contract value of $1.6 billion.
During EMD, the contractor will complete system development
and demonstration.
The first test launch of the EELV medium-lift
vehicle will occur in fiscal year 2001, and the first Government
operational payloads are slated for launch in fiscal year 2002.
EELV is expected to save the Government between $5 and $10
billion from space launch between 2002 and 2020.
This award culminates a 15-month Low Cost Concept Validation
(LCCV) module, which included requirements analyses, cost-benefit
trades, preliminary design, and intensive acquisition reform and
streamlining efforts.
Four contractors participated in the LCCV module: Allitant
Techsystems Inc., Magna, Utah; the Boeing Company Defense &
Space Group, Seattle, Wash.; McDonnell Douglas Aerospace,
Huntington Beach, Calif.; and Lockheed Martin Astronautics,
Littleton, Color.
For more EELV information, call Space and Missiles Systems
Center Public Affairs Office, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., (310) 363-
6428.
