
The Space Review: Building a better booster (part 1) - rbanffy
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3658/1
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avmich
Comparing liquid and solid stages, it seems like significant reason to use a
solid booster is to maintain proficiency in building big stages which could be
used in military.

For space launches it seems to me liquid stages have overall edge in usage.

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credit_guy
>to maintain proficiency in building big stages which could be used in
military

I guess the grand prize here would be to be able to build a smaller, but
equally potent version of the Trident 2 [1] missile. This would allow the Navy
to downsize the new class of strategic nuclear subs (Columbia [2]) while
keeping their deterrence capability the same. Since the lifetime procurement
cost of the 12 projected Columbia class submarines is about $350 BN, this
downsizing could be quite profitable.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UGM-133_Trident_II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UGM-133_Trident_II)

[2] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia-
class_submarine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia-class_submarine)

