Was it a contract that was switched from another LSP? It was once marked as being launched by the Ariane 5.....
Any info on the Atlas configuration? Likely a 421 or 431, if the 4m fairing is large enough, otherwise likely a 521 or 531 version.
It would be very strange for a commercial satellite to require a 5m since that would leave out Proton and Zenith from the equation. And in Atlas, for the same weight, means a more expensive launch.On a different note, it would seem that ULA is starting to wake up in the commercial market. I would be very worried now that DoD launch cadence is slowing down and ULA has to make up that revenue in the commercial market.
Quote from: baldusi on 08/05/2015 05:08 pmIt would be very strange for a commercial satellite to require a 5m since that would leave out Proton and Zenith from the equation. And in Atlas, for the same weight, means a more expensive launch.On a different note, it would seem that ULA is starting to wake up in the commercial market. I would be very worried now that DoD launch cadence is slowing down and ULA has to make up that revenue in the commercial market.Both Rainbow-1 and AMC-16 were both launched on 521 versions.
Both Rainbow-1 and AMC-16 were both launched on 521 versions.
On a different note, it would seem that ULA is starting to wake up in the commercial market. I would be very worried now that DoD launch cadence is slowing down and ULA has to make up that revenue in the commercial market.
Most likely it is their availability - F9 and Ariane 5 probably could not meet the target date.Note very short time - 16 months from order to launch.
Quote from: Skyrocket on 08/05/2015 05:31 pmBoth Rainbow-1 and AMC-16 were both launched on 521 versions.I can't recall, but those might have been launched with 5-m fairings only to get in some 5-m fairing flights.I know at one time WGS was also on a 521, the first 2 eventually flew on 421s.
Quote from: dkovacic on 08/06/2015 07:24 amMost likely it is their availability - F9 and Ariane 5 probably could not meet the target date.Note very short time - 16 months from order to launch.According to Peter B. de Selding, that was indeed the main issue. The satellite would be ready in July 2016, and Ariane did not have any slots in the second half of 2016. In addition, weight growth might have made finding a lower-berth co-passenger difficult.http://spacenews.com/echostar-books-a-commercial-atlas-5-for-jupiter-2/
WGS satellite were never planned to fly on the 521 config.