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May 21, 2002

Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
Phone: 202/358-1979

Maj. Angela Billings
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, Washington
Phone: 703/693-9089

Mike Kucharek
Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colo.
Phone: 719/554-3051

RELEASE: 02-87

NASA and Air Force Forge Ahead with Reusable Launch Technology

Air Force and NASA officials recently agreed with the primary recommendation of a 120-day study team that the Air Force and NASA should continue to assess building a joint Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) demonstrator.

After scrutinizing shared technologies and mutual requirements for space access, the study team's top recommendation to the Air Force and NASA was that the two organizations should work together to assess building a joint operations demonstrator vehicle. The study also concludes this demonstrator could eventually lead to a follow-on cargo vehicle for both the Air Force and NASA, as well as to a crewed vehicle for NASA.

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe; Air Force Undersecretary and Director of the National Reconnaissance Office Peter B. Teets; and General Ed Eberhart, Commander of US SPACECOM and NORAD, discussed the 120-day RLV study's findings and recommendations April 10 at a Senior Space Partnership Council meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo., and agreed in principle with the study's recommendations.
(Full Text)

* NASA’s News Release Archive

Dan