Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) is an expendable launch system program of the United States Air Force, intended to assure access to space for Department of Defense and other United States government payloads. The program, which began in in the 1990s with the goal of making government space launches more affordable and reliable, resulted in the development of two launch systems, Delta IV and Atlas V.
The U.S. Air Force assembled its initi...
more
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) is an expendable launch system program of the United States Air Force, intended to assure access to space for Department of Defense and other United States government payloads. The program, which began in in the 1990s with the goal of making government space launches more affordable and reliable, resulted in the development of two launch systems, Delta IV and Atlas V.
The U.S. Air Force assembled its initial blue print for the EELV in 1994, following many years of government funded studies into an improved system and architecture, which was intended to replace most if not all existing “legacy” spacelifters (e.g. Delta II, Atlas II/Centaur, Titan IV, etc.). The architecture called for the spacelifter to be based on standardized fairings, liquid core vehicles, upper stages, and solid rockets. The standard payload interface was also proposed as another way to save money and improve efficiency.
The initial bids came from four major defense...
less
