Product Overview
This reference guide contains updated and expanded material on launch programmes in Brazil, China, Europe, India, Israel, Japan, Russia, Ukraine and the United States. Features of this edition include: inclusion of new systems -Angara, Beal's VA-2, Delta III and IV, H-IIA, VLS, LeoLink, Minotaur, Soyuz 2, Strela, Proton M, Atlas III and V, Dnepr, Kistler's K-1, Shtil, with details on Sea Launch using the Zenit vehicle; reorganized alphabetically by system (eg. Ariane, Athena, Atlas, Beal, Delta etc) to reflect the international cooperation in vehicle development, marketing and operation; completely updated and expanded performance data; updated flight records with added details (eg. payload mass, delivery orbit, manifest type); more detailed failure descriptions; SI units used throughout; and a new chapter on spaceports. Standard sections describe each of the launch systems in detail, including chronological illustrations of production status, vehicle descriptions and their technical differences, a brief text history of the launch system and the launch record, price data, performance curves for a variety of orbits, launch site, launch facilities, launch processing and flight sequence, payload accommodations, and more.
