NASA Contract Could Jumpstart Rocket Start Up

space.com ^ | 02/03/04 | Brian Berger

[KevinDavis]

WASHINGTON -- Eager to find new ways to ferry cargo to and from the international space station, NASA plans to pay a U.S. company $227.4 million for the demonstration of a reusable rocket that has been in development since the satellite boom of the 1990s.

NASA announced Feb. 2 that it intends to exercise a 2001 contract with Kirkland, Wash.-based Kistler Aerospace Corp. to buy pre- and post-flight data from demonstrations of the company’s K-1 reusable launch vehicle. The award, according to NASA, is not for actual launch services to the station, but for the data from a series of flight demonstrations meant to show that a recoverable launcher can reliably approach an orbiting platform such as the space station and safely attach to it.

[KevinDavis]

For once NASA is doing something right. I predict the Shuttle is going away real soon.

[KevinDavis]

Space Ping! This is the space ping list! Let me know if you want on or off this list!

[Young Werther]

My good bud works at Michoud where the shuttle external tank is manufactured. He mentioned, years ago, that NASA was supporting Kistler with expertise in building the tanks for the Kistler Rocket. Meanwhile, here in the Dallas Area Beal Aerospace blamed its demise on NASA's lack of support for commercial launch vehicles. Go figger!

[Frank_Discussion]

Thanksfor the pingage, Kevin.

The PTB in the government must really see something in the K-1, since they are pushing forward with a company going through bankruptcy.

[Frank_Discussion]

"Beal Aerospace blamed its demise on NASA's lack of support for commercial launch vehicles."

That's not how I understood it. It's a subtle thing, but it's not a lack of support for commercial boosters. Rather, it was the subsidy of existing heavy hitters, i.e. Delta and Atlas.

Beal just couldn't compete with a subsidized competition.

I had high hopes for Beal. Their technical achievement and speed of development was outstanding.

[NormsRevenge]

Bump

[Young Werther]

One of our NSS club members worked for Beal. We were invited to the 2nd stage test firing in MacGregor Texas. The second stage generated more thrust then the SSMEs and there were NASA rocket engineers from Stennis. The Cape Canaveral Chamber of Commerce was trying to entice Beal to move his facilities from Frisco Texas to Florida but well.....

To Bad! But heck maybe its time to foster this commerical urge. Burt Rutan's SpacePlane One is an example as is the SpaceX launcher. Hubba Hubba maybe it's not too late!

[Frank_Discussion]

IIRC, The main stage Beal Thruster was a Saturn F-1 analog. One Million Pounds (plus!) of thrust. And pressure fed, to boot.

Simple, powerful system. Such a d*mn shame it couldn't have lived.

[edwin hubble]

This is an interesting development, maybe promising.

[Terpfen]

Please add me to your space pinglist. Thanks.

[PatrickHenry]

Sounds like the company they're contracting with is already on life-support. Things may work out for them. But I'd hate to be a supplier for a cumbersome bureaucracy like NASA.

[irv]

$99 million owed to Aerojet, the Sacramento, Calif.-based propulsion company supplying Russian-designed engines for the K-1

Is it just me, or does this seem to be a sign of how far we've fallen since the glory days in 1969?

It does give some hope for the future though.