Price pressure: U.S. Air Force, NRO push industry for lower satellite launch costs

摘要

In 1987, when McDonnell Douglas won a U.S. Air Force contract to send 18 GPS satellites into orbit, the launch philosophy was to strive for success while accepting the odds that one of the company's Delta 2 rockets might fail. If that happened, it would not be catastrophic. Each spacecraft was part of a constellation that included spare satellites. A launch failure might delay the program, but would not derail it, said Jim Maser, a rocket engineer at McDonnell Douglas at the time and now president of engine-maker Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. That philosophy no longer exists. After a string of fiery explosions and stranded satellites in the late 1990s, the Defense Department and National Reconnaissance Office began emphasizing mission assurance. Over time, the "failure is not an option" philosophy took hold. Unlike the GPS satellites of the 1980s, today's military communications and spy satellites typical cost billions of dollars each, and no one is willing to accept losing one.