Delta Team Members Lauded at Event

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. 9/27/06 — Members of The Aerospace Corporation's Delta launch vehicle team were among those recognized Sept. 27 at a celebration hosted by The Boeing Company to mark fulfillment of its commitment to the U.S. Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program.

The theme of the event, which was held at the Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club in Redondo Beach, California, was “Promises Made, Promises Kept.”

With the successful launch June 27 of the Delta IV NROL-22 launch vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Delta IV government/industry team completed the three major objectives of the EELV program: operational launch sites on both coasts, a U.S.-built booster engine, and heavy-lift capability.

The EELV is the next-generation launch technology, which will provide military, civil and commercial users a significantly more flexible, less costly launch capability. The EELV program comprises two families of rockets—the Atlas V and the Delta IV—which will provide modularity to accommodate light, medium and heavy payloads for all users. The first EELV launch took place in 2003.

Among those singled out for special recognition were Aerospace team members Billy Sutton, systems director at the Western Range at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, for his contributions to the base's Space Launch Complex 6 Activation Team; Marvin “Butch” Gardner, senior project leader, and Peter Hypolite, project engineer, both of The Aerospace Corporation's Eastern Range Directorate at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, for their contributions to that base's Space Launch Complex 37; and Heinz Butner, principal engineer, and Dr. Mark Brosmer, principal director, both of the corporation's Delta IV team, for their contributions to the Delta IV Vehicle Design Team.

“It’s a very special honor for members of Aerospace to be recognized by a launch vehicle contractor,” said Ray Johnson, vice president of the corporation's Space Launch Operations. “It highlights how far we have come in developing effective teams made up of the Air Force, Aerospace, SETAs [systems engineering and technical assistance organizations], and the contractors who are all working together towards the common goal of mission success on Defense Department missions,” he said.

The Aerospace Corporation is an independent, nonprofit company that provides objective technical analyses and assessments for national-security space programs and selected civil and commercial space programs in the national interest.

Media inquiries: Dave Jonta, 310-336-5041, david.l.jonta@aero.org