Will Antares get a new, all composite solid first stage? Hhmmm...
Oh! Expect to be able to do some programs they couldn't individually, such as an advanced ICBM and Sat Servicing.
Quote from: MATTBLAK on 04/29/2014 12:00 pmWill Antares get a new, all composite solid first stage? Hhmmm...Honestly, I'd be surprised. The Antares first stage was really high performance--the NK33s have great Isp and really high T/W for liquids. If anything they want to increase the payload of Antares up to the 3.4tonne class that they talked about in the Super Cygnus presentation from a few weeks back (which also happens to be about the payload class that ISS is asking for on CRS-2). I doubt that going to an all-solid Antares would enable that, but who knows, I haven't actually run the numbers. If the first stage is sufficiently larger than the Antares first stage, and if you put a second stage in there (so three-stage solid) it might work.