DELTA IV HEAVIER - THE NEXT GREAT LEAP
Most rocket companies seek out some form of smaller early project to prove their capabilities before they design a truly gigantic vehicle - think Falcon 1, Terran 1, Electron, etc. At ConkSat, we just dream bigger. That's why, as a technical demonstrator and stopgap before we develop our own launch vehicle (TBA), we are requesting to purchase the Delta IV materials from United Launch Alliance and work to develop the new Delta IV Heavier ultra-heavy launch vehicle.
With 4 Common Booster Cores as opposed to the standard Delta IV Heavy's 3, the Delta IV Heavier could feature unmatched performance. The extra booster adds thrust, delta-v, and even torque for pitching the vehicle downrange (important: always attach the extra booster to the uprange side). Gravity turn? We're thrust turning. This powered pitch-over maneuver eliminates the need for costly avionics and flight controls, allowing us to demonstrate our company goal of flying the first unguided orbital rocket.
The benefits of this approach are numerous. With no flight computers, engine gimbals, or control systems, the only real complexity comes from the engine computers. These can be outsourced to the launch pad and disconnected once engine start-up reaches steady state. This allows us to use our patent-pending SMART (So Many Avionics can Remain on the Tower) strategy to be the first company to reuse our entire avionics system flight-to-flight. We could transform a notoriously costly and complex vehicle into one of the cheapest pathways to orbit available.
Furthermore, with the future retirement of Atlas V, a market gap exists in the field of asymmetric rockets. Without this, customers seeking an asymmetric vehicle will be completely out of luck. Government and commercial customers alike have been reliant on the coolness factor of asymmetry in their launch vehicles ever since the days of the Space Shuttle (with which the asymmetry was a major draw), and it's unlikely that the raceways of future launch vehicles will be enough asymmetry to draw them. By occupying this niche, we guarantee commercial success.
Tory Bruno, please let us do this to your beloved rocket. We promise we'll take good care of her. We cannot offer money but we can offer all the love in our hearts.