NASASpaceFlight.com Forum

Commercial and US Government Launch Vehicles => ULA - Delta, Atlas, Vulcan => Topic started by: Chris Bergin on 07/26/2013 05:17 am

Title: ULA point out their launch processing prowess
Post by: Chris Bergin on 07/26/2013 05:17 am

Morning ;)

So ULA released a few quotes about how happy they are with life right now. Got me thinking about not just this busy flow period - the reason for the release - so wrote around it.....

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/07/ula-point-out-their-launch-processing-prowess/

Balancing things out too, given we've run with so many SpaceX articles of late.

Title: Re: ULA point out their launch processing prowess
Post by: GBpatsfan on 07/26/2013 06:09 am

Nice article.

Personally I would feel safest hitching a ride uphill on an Atlas V :)

Title: Re: ULA point out their launch processing prowess
Post by: spectre9 on 07/26/2013 10:10 am

Thanks for that Chris. Enjoyed it.

Good to hear ULA is ramping up.

I'm a big fan of ULA and they do a great job covering their launches.

Title: Re: ULA point out their launch processing prowess
Post by: Targeteer on 07/26/2013 11:08 am

A cynic, or US taxpayer for that matter, might expect at least that level of performance considering the amount of money the US government is being charged for ULA's services  ;)

Title: Re: ULA point out their launch processing prowess
Post by: Rocket Science on 07/26/2013 12:13 pm

Great article Chris!  :) However controversial ULA’s pricing might be, you can’t argue with success and they have set the bar pretty high for the competition. Let the games begin!  ;D

Title: Re: ULA point out their launch processing prowess
Post by: Chris Bergin on 07/26/2013 01:32 pm

Thanks chaps! Yeah, it is very interesting for payloads deciding what vehicle to go with.

Might be an idea trying to get one of those customers to speak about such considerations as a follow-up.

Title: Re: ULA point out their launch processing prowess
Post by: muomega0 on 07/26/2013 01:55 pm

Quote from: Chris Bergin on 07/26/2013 01:32 pm

Thanks chaps! Yeah, it is very interesting for payloads deciding what vehicle to go with.

Might be an idea trying to get one of those customers to speak about such considerations as a follow-up.

Quote from: Bergin

“In the launch business, price is never the sole consideration for the buyer. That’s because launch price is a small percentage of the total program value (which can exceed replacement cost when there’s no money to replace, like the Glory spacecraft).”

So this assumes that everything has to be packaged in one launch, and the payload is more expensive than the LV.

Did they mention any plans for large larger missions where most of the mass is propellant, with has little intrinsic value on earth, where the LV would be the dominate cost?

Title: Re: ULA point out their launch processing prowess
Post by: Joffan on 07/26/2013 11:07 pm

Good article Chris

This is a really good indicator of the positive pressure of competition. I hope both ULA and SpaceX continue to deliver and compete in their various ways.

Title: Re: ULA point out their launch processing prowess
Post by: joek on 07/27/2013 12:24 am

Quote from: Targeteer on 07/26/2013 11:08 am

A cynic, or US taxpayer for that matter, might expect at least that level of performance considering the amount of money the US government is being charged for ULA's services  ;)

Or commercial, which has voted with their wallets to go elsewhere.

Title: Re: ULA point out their launch processing prowess
Post by: Star One on 07/27/2013 10:08 pm

Good article. Nice to see some coverage of ULA.