News of the most recent cost growth and Nunn-McCurdy breach in the U.S. Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program has once again put a spotlight on the troubled situation in the nation’s space launch business and unleashed new concerns in the space community, Congress and the public. While attention has centered on getting EELV costs under control, the impacts and proposed fixes have much broader implications for the U.S. space program as a whole. With unprecedented budgetary pressures looming ahead, this is a crucial point in time to get serious about more cost-effective and resilient alternatives for space launch.