Advanced Launch System

The Advanced Launch System (ALS) is a joint United States Air Force (USAF) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) study which operated from 1987 to 1990.

Its aim was to develop a flexible, modular, heavy-lift, high rate space launch vehicle that could deliver payloads to Earth orbit at a tenth the cost of existing boosters.

The office was furnished with Apple Mac OS personal computers instead of the Command's usual Microsoft Windows systems[citation needed].

Secondly, the ALS program was to find a way to transport many thousands of tons of equipment for the SDI into low Earth orbit at a cost less than $1,000 per kilogram.

In 1989, the Bush administration, via the Defense Acquisition Board, was asked to ratify an existing plan to have the ALS program at an advanced state of development in 1990; ready for a first flight in 1998; and fully operational in 2000.