How cool is the Antares rocket?

[Kryten]

Trying to design something that only works at high launch rates in a market segment that's already completely saturated is not a good idea, and Orbital seem to be the only provider that really grasps this. For the lower EELV class they had Proton, Delta IV, Atlas V, Ariane 5 upper slot, Falcon 9, H-II, and Zenit to contend with. Going into that segment with an all-liquid relatively high fixed costs LV, without the extensive government support of most of those, would be suicide.

[fredinno]

2 hours ago, ModZero said:

Also, one of their orbital rockets has a recoverable crewed first stage that can also take passengers across the ocean, if need be. Eat your heart out, Elon Musk!

You mean a plane ?

2 hours ago, Kryten said:

Trying to design something that only works at high launch rates in a market segment that's already completely saturated is not a good idea, and Orbital seem to be the only provider that really grasps this. For the lower EELV class they had Proton, Delta IV, Atlas V, Ariane 5 upper slot, Falcon 9, H-II, and Zenit to contend with. Going into that segment with an all-liquid relatively high fixed costs LV, without the extensive government support of most of those, would be suicide.

Antares was actually closer to Delta II, since it has a really bad upper stage. So it's a double whammy. Between a niche market, and a market that is highly competitive.

Let's hope their next EELV actually ends up undercutting anybody. It's basically a modular Liberty 2.0- because the last 2 times a similar design was undertaken, it worked perfectly~!

It seems a bit more sane this time around (smaller SRBs for lower Thrust oscillation), so we'll see.

2 hours ago, ModZero said:

Orbital/ATK is generally cool in "Jeb's Junkyard & Spaceship Parts" way. Also, one of their orbital rockets has a recoverable crewed first stage that can also take passengers across the ocean, if need be. Eat your heart out, Elon Musk!

The SLS SRBs are very far from "Junkyard" quality.

Edited June 7, 2016 by fredinno

[Kryten]

Again, the point of the next design is to design for minimal fixed costs; it's solid segments and infrastructure that are to be common with later SLS versions, strap-ons common to Atlas V/Vulcan, and a liquid upper stage that's mostly or entirely outsourced to Blue Origin. That should allow them to take the finicky gov payloads Falcon can't do, without needing the extensive extra commercial business Vulcan would need. That's why OrbATK are still hesitant on moving forward with it; it's basically a back-up in case of Vulcan programme failure.