OSC chief David Thompson used the backdrop of the unveiling of the first X-34 reusable launch vehicle demonstrator to make the announcement at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in the California high desert.

Thompson said the new launcher would be capable of lifting 8,000 pound payloads of different configurations to Earth orbit. That would make his unpiloted craft a direct competitor to Lockheed Martin's Athena series, OSC's own Taurus, and most importantly the score of small reusables now under design by such firms as Kelly, Pioneer Rocketplane, and Kistler Aerospace.

But the difference is OSC's decade of flight experience with their winged Pegasus launcher and established business contacts in NASA, the Air Force, and industry.

Look for OSC to instantly become the leader in the small reusable launch vehicle field. But with small launchers begging for business, should anyone really care? If the X-34 flight trials show that the technology works, look for OSC to corner the small market on small launchers.

It could prove the death knell for one or more of the struggling startups. Also look for a new rocket engine powerplant for this new bird, to replace Marshall's Fastrac engine for the X-34 flights. But don't be surprised if the Fastrac's technology finds its way to the new engine.

The move, while not unexpected, comes fairly early, with X-34 tests not yet underway and still more than a year behind schedule with the delivery Friday of flight vehicle no. 1 of three test craft. It also suggests that OSC most likely has a launch customer for the new rocket -which Thompson said would be a winged cousin of the X-34 and will use its technologies. Air launch appears here to stay. And the words "single stage to orbit" were not spoken.