Apr 17 1980
From The Space Library
The Washington Post reported that a U.S. Air Force estimate of the cost of building a West Coast launch pad for the Shuttle was $82 million short. Less than 3 years ago, the estimate was $118 million for a Vandenberg Air Force Base pad to launch polar-orbiting (as opposed to equatorial-orbiting) satellites. Military satellites used a polar orbit to cover the globe as it rotates; spacecraft could not use the Florida facility for launches into polar orbit because of the danger of coming down on land in case of a mishap. First phase of the Vandenberg program (excavation of the area where the launch pad would be built) was complete, the U.S. Air Force said, but bids for the second phase ranged from $103.9 to $112 million instead of the $79.6 million U.S. Air Force had estimated. Bidders said inflation caused the higher bids, especially the price of assembled electrical equipment and copper cable. U.S. Air Force could ask permission of Congress to reprogram funds from other construction projects to the Vandenberg construction. (W Post, Apr 17/80, A-14)
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