In order to select the proper launch vehicle for the mission to Venus, it is critical to know the mass of the space craft. The mass of the entry vehicle was first calculated. The major components are shown below.

The mass information for the overall system is shown below.

Therefore, the launch vehicle needs to be able to carry 4587.19 kg. It was determined from the Trajectory section that the C3 required to launch the space craft was 8.5km2/s2. This information was entered into NASA's Launch Vehicle Performance system [2] for a high energy orbit so that a launch vehicle could be made. Only those Expendable Launch Vehicles (ELVs) capable of carrying the amount of mass required were selected for comparison.

This report created a plot of mass vs. C3. All of the considered launch vehicles are capable of carrying the required mass at the desired C3.

The Atlas V ELV's seem to be superior in performance when compared to the Falcon 9 (v1.1). Both the Atlas V and Falcon 9 ELVs have proven reliable thus far. However, according to [3], the cost for using an Atlas V to place a satellite in GTO (Geostationary Transfer Orbit) was $100 million per satellite. Further probing of SpaceX's website presents a heavier duty model called the SpaceX Falcon Heavy [4] for $85 million. The Falcon 9 Heavy has three cores, each with a cluster of 9 Merlin engines. This ELV is capable of carrying a 13,200kg payload to Mars [4]. This makes this a viable choice for the mission to Venus and will be able to continue the launch even in the event of a single rocket failure.