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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
FY97 Annual Report

EVOLVED EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE (EELV)

	Air Force ACAT ID Program 182 launch vehicles (FY02-20) Development cost (TY$) $2,000M Average unit cost (TY$) TBD Low-rate production 3QFY98 Full-rate production 1QFY04 Prime Contractor Source selection in progress: candidates are Boeing and Lockheed Martin

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) will be a family of expendable launch vehicles (ELVs) that will execute the National Mission Model (NMM) currently served by Titan II, Delta II, Atlas II, and Titan IV. EELV will support military, intelligence, and civil mission requirements. EELV will be developed as an evolutionary improvement to one of the existing expendable launch systems or its components. The EELV system includes the launch vehicles, infrastructure, support systems, and interfaces. Current planning envisions configurations to support both medium- and heavy-lift requirements. The program reached Milestone I in December 1996. The current competing concepts are evolutionary outgrowths of the Boeing Delta II and Lockheed Martin Atlas II launch vehicles. A single contractor team will be chosen after Milestone II. IOC is expected in FY03.

As an evolutionary space launch system, EELV is based on technological innovation being used to secure our nation's assured access to space. EELV will deliver medium and large payloads to precise orbits from as low as 100 miles to as high as over 22,000 miles above the earth, enabling the U.S. to take the high ground of space and achieving full-dimensional protection.

The existing ELV families can execute the NMM, but they have limitations in terms of cost, interoperability, and responsiveness. Growing competition from foreign launch systems has eroded the commercial market share for U.S. launch providers, significantly increasing the costs to all customers, including the U.S. government. In 1994, a congressionally mandated DoD study led by USAF Vice Chief of Staff General Moorman developed candidate solutions to the overall problem of modernizing the nation's space-launch capability. One of the solutions is being executed as the EELV program.

The EELV program is being conducted according to the Secretary of Defense's February 1994 Acquisition Reform Mandate. This mandate directs that commercial practices and streamlining initiatives be used to the maximum extent feasible and be consistent with prudent management.

OT&E activity thus far has been confined to planning and observation of DT&E activity. The T&E approach combines DT and OT wherever possible. Two operational assessments are planned: the first in FY97-FY98 and the second in FY98-FY01. A medium-lift system test flight is planned for FY01; a heavy-lift system test flight is planned for FY03. The test flights will place operational payloads in orbit. A dedicated IOT&E will be conducted during FY02-FY03. Six operational government EELV flights are projected during the IOT&E period; several operational commercial flights are also expected. Additional data will be collected during some or all of these EELV flights.

No testing has occurred to date. An OT&E strategy using the Strategy-to-Task methodology has been developed by AFOTEC and approved by DOT&E. The resulting test program captures the critical operational issues and makes good use of limited resources and limited data-collection opportunities. Additionally, a draft TEMP is being developed by the user, developer, and test communities.