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http://www.aviationnow.com/awin/...058-01.xml<br />World News & Analysis <br />The Space Propulsion Industry Considers More Consolidation <br />Aviation Week & Space Technology <br />07/19/2004, page 58<br />Craig Covault <br />Fort Lauderdale, Fla.<br /><br />The space propulsion industry considers more consolidation as another Apollo 11 anniversary dawns, but this time with some promise on the horizon<br /><br />RETOOLING ROCKETRY<br /><br />The U.S. space propulsion industry, a technology linchpin for America's return to the Moon, is looking to retool and reorganize around a new but controversial "national propulsion company" concept that could help revitalize the industry.<br /><br />This plan is beginning to emerge from secret talks between Pratt & Whitney and Boeing on Pratt's possible acquisition of Boeing's Rocketdyne space propulsion division.<br /><br />Top Air Force and Lockheed Martin managers, however, question whether the plan could stifle competition. <br /><br />The new move toward consolidation of U.S. rocket propulsion companies comes as NASA on July 20 marks the 35th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing by Apollo 11. The Apollo achievement was made possible by the development of 60 different rocket propulsion systems that made up the Apollo/Saturn V vehicle. <br /><br />Now finally more than three decades after Apollo's triumph, there is progress on the horizon for a second wave of human exploration.<br /><br />Similar cutting-edge, but far more efficient and cost-effective, propulsion developments will be needed to power NASA's new Lunar/Mars initiative, however. The agency is this week sorting the first official response from companies that met a July 16 deadline for initial Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) options, designed to eventually propel U.S. manned spaceflight out of Earth orbit where it has been stranded since the end of Apollo. These new Lunar/Mars propulsion techn