Boeing Launches Eutelsat W5 on Inaugral Delta 4

Boeing successfully launched their first Delta 4 M+ (4,2) carrying Eutelsat W5, from Cape Canaveral, pad 37B, at 22:39 UTC on November 20. In April 2002, Eutelsat signed a contract with Alcatel Space for the rapid delivery of Eutelsat W5, originally scheduled for a July 15 launch. Eutelsat W5 will be located at 70.5°E. Financial details were not disclosed, though it was likely highly discounted because it was a first flight.

The 3163 kg (6971 lbm) Eutelsat W5 uses the Alcatel Space Spacebus 3000 platform. It will carry 24 Ku-band transponders. The satellite has a design life of 12 years, with an end-of-life power generation capability of 6.000 kW. The spacecraft will have two steerable spotbeams.

The spacecraft is the refurbished Eutelsat W1, which was damaged in 1998 by a fire extinguishing system during payload testing in, then Aerospatiale's, Cannes satellite factory. (The satellite has since often been referred to as the Wet One.) A US$50 million insurance claim was filed for its loss. The W1 name was later assigned to an Astrium satellite, which had initially been ordered as Ressat, and launched in September 2000. The replacement satellite built by Alcatel Space under the initial contract designated Eutelsat W1R, was eventually launched in March 2001, renamed, EuroBird.

The Delta 4 was developed by Boeing as part of the U.S. Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The EELV program goal is to replace current versions of Atlas, Delta and Titan rockets with new vehicles that are more affordable and have improved reliability for launching satellites to orbit. Boeing has invested at least US$1.5 billion in the development of the Delta 4, with the Department of Defense contributing an additional US$500 million. Lockheed Martin developed the Atlas 5 as their part in the EELV program. Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 had its first flight on August 21.

The first USAF EELV mission is scheduled for February aboard the second Delta 4 rocket, which is to launch a Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) spacecraft to orbit. It will take a couple months to thoroughly analyze the data before approving the second launch. The Delta 4 and Atlas 5 are capable of backing up each other, allowing the government to switch a satellite to the other rocket if one system becomes grounded. For example, the Air Force has paid Lockheed Martin US$420,000 to prepare for launching DSCS on an Atlas 5 in case the Delta 4 failed.

NASA has recently asked both Boeing and Lockheed Martin to conduct a study to figure out what would have to be done, including costs, to man-rate their systems to carry a manned spacecraft that would also serve as a lifeboat for the International Space Station.

In October 1998, Boeing was awarded most of the initial USAF EELV launches. After restructuring some of the manifest and adding a Delta 4 Heavy test flight paid for by USAF, Boeing has been awarded 22 government EELV missions (valued at US$1.5 billion) versus 7 for Lockheed Martin (valued at US$650 million). A second round of EELV contracts are expected to be awarded in 2003. Delta 4 has six launches planned during the coming year with two commercial flights and four EELV missions, including one launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base. For Boeing Launch Services as a whole, 95 missions are scheduled on Delta 2, 3 and 4 and Sea Launch through 2007.

Boeing acquired the Delta program in 1997 when it merged with McDonnell Douglas. The McDonnell Douglas Delta 2 continues to be a workhorse for smaller NASA and military satellite launches,. However, it no longer has the performance to launch the many heavier satellites currently seeking flights.

As an interim vehicle, McDonnell Douglas developed the Delta 3, which was always viewed as a transitional launch vehicle to the Delta 4. Originally Boeing planned to build 20 Delta 3 rockets. Delta 3’s first flight in 1998 strayed off course and the rocket had to be destroyed. On the next flight, the second stage didn't work properly; stranding its satellite in a useless orbit. The third flight carried a test payload. Due to these early failures, and the glut of rockets on the market, Boeing has likely lost out on a dozen or more launches, worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The company still has seven Delta 3 missions planned, but few in the industry expect all of them to be flown. Since 2000, parts from four Delta 3 rockets have been converted for use on Delta 2 or Delta 4 missions. The second stage of the Delta 3 and Delta 4 rockets are nearly identical, using the same engine.

Boeing, following its airplane strategy, is developing a family of Delta 4 rockets. There are four "medium" variants, as well as a heavy lift version, each incrementally increasing the spacecraft mass which can be launched. All five configurations share a Common Booster Core first stage, an RS-68 liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen main engine, and an upper stage using an RL-10B-2 cryogenic engine. The medium variants all use the common booster core, augmented by either two or four solid rockets strapped to the side of the first stage. The heavy lift version will use three core boosters strapped together.

The Delta 4 Medium is a two stage vehicle, no strap-on solid motors, with a four meter fairing. It is capable of launching 4,210 kg (9,285 lbm) to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). The Medium+ (4,2) is a two stage vehicle, two strap-on solids motors, with a four meter fairing. It can launch 5,845 kg (12,890 lbm) to GTO. The Medium+ (5,2) is a two stage vehicle, two strap-on solid motors, with a five meter fairing. It can launch 4,640 kg (10,230 lbm) to GTO. The Delta 4 Medium+ (5,4) is a two stage vehicle, four strap-on solid motors, with a five meter fairing. It can launch 6,565 kg (14,475 lbm) to GTO. The Delta 4 Heavy has three Common Booster Cores mounted together to form a triple-body. The Heavy version can launch up to 13,130 kg (28,950 lbm) to GTO.

The Delta 4 uses the Boeing-built Rocketdyne RS-68 main engine, which is the first new U.S. liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen first stage engine developed in the past 25 years. The engine has 11 major components, including the combustion chamber, single oxygen and single hydrogen turbopumps, gimbal bearing, injector, gas generator, heat exchanger and fuel exhaust duct. Flight engines are designed for eight starts and 1,200 seconds of burn time. The extra margin allows for acceptance testing and on-pad aborts without having to replace the engine. Boeing Rocketdyne has built a factory at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to assemble the RS-68 engines, check them out, and conduct test firings on the B-1 stand. Upon completion of the acceptance testing, the engines are shipped to the Delta 4 factory in Decatur, Alabama, for installation.

The restartable Pratt & Whitney RL-10B-2 engine powers the upper stage. The stage carries about 20,400 kg (45,000 lbm) of propellant allowing for a total burn time of up to 14 minutes. A normal mission to GTO would have two firings.

Alliant Techsystems manufactures the third-generation graphite-epoxy solid motors, GEM 60, with gimbaled nozzles.

To build the Delta 4, Boeing has built a 1.5 million-square-foot state-of-the-art factory in Decatur, Alabama. The factory is facilitated to produce as many as 100 common booster cores a year.  

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