Rockwell International is now actively involved in the marketing and sale of the Cyclone launch vehicle. This paper summarizes the capabilities of this vehicle, describes launch operations and defines the Cyclone role within the spectrum of potential commercial launch opportunities. A brief history of the Cyclone launch vehicle is presented, portraying its evolution and launch record. The Cyclone performance and operational characteristics are summarized, with special attention given to the integration approach, operational cycle, and time requirements for payload integration through completion of launch. Of particular interest is the relatively short time span needed to integrate and launch Cyclone payloads, with on-pad launch time typically less than 24 hours and sequential launches possible in less than 1 1/2 days. An overview of the commercial satellite market is provided tracing historical trends andfuture market projections. These diverse and expanding commercial satellite systems are financially dependent upon successful orbital insertion of large numbers of satellites in a relatively short timeframe. This paper illustrates how the Cyclone launch vehicle is a viable solution to the commercial success of these systems.
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