It's time to split United Launch Alliance. Prior to the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, the U.S. government had developed three primary expendable launch vehicles to meet its space launch needs. Delta, Atlas and Titan were noncomplementary launchers that corresponded to being able to launch small, medium and large payloads. Failure of one of the launchers would lead to massive backlogs in the category of spacecraft that vehicle was designed to launch. Costs were high, and the 1,000-day Titan launch campaign weighed on people's minds and careers like a $500 hammer. Attempts were made to develop first an "Advanced Launch System" and then, when that didn't go anywhere, a "National Launch System." The final attempt, which eventually succeeded in making it to fruition, was the EELV program.
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