bases is driven by a set of case studies which are defined by NASA to assess the feasibility and infrastructure requirements of potential human exploration initiatives. A requisite to these initiatives is a transportation infrastructure capable of delivering large masses from Earth to low-Earth orbit. Heavy lift launch vehicles are required with a capability in the range of 90 to 140 metric tons, launched at a rate of four to six per year. The exploration case studies vary in terms of their evolutionary nature from a one- shot Mars expedition to the time-phased buildup of permanently manned colonies with minimum dependence on Earth for resupply. The implications on space station of these case study variations are primarily associated with space vehicle assembly/launch rate from station, mass throughput and resource requirements. Nominally, the lunar
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