Comml Satellite Launch From Floating Platform Set For Oct
September 24, 1999
Dow Jones Newswires
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP)--A multinational team plans to use a
Russian-made rocket to carry a U.S. satellite into orbit from a floating
platform south of Hawaii on Oct. 10.
It would be the first commercial liftoff for the Sea Launch Co., a unique
international effort led by the Boeing Co. (BA), it was announced
Thursday.
The launch pad is a converted oil drilling platform brought to a point 2,300
kilometers south of Hawaii, accompanied by a support ship. Because the
earth spins faster at the equator, it gives rockets a boost in reaching orbit
with heavier payloads.
Sea Launch successfully fired a dummy payload into orbit in a test launch
in March. The payload Oct. 10 will be a Hughes Space and
Communications satellite to beam television signals to DirecTV subscribers
throughout the U.S.
A successful launch would be a welcome event not only for Boeing and its
overseas partners, but for a satellite industry slowed by recent launch
failures, a softening market and tighter U.S. scrutiny of technology sales.
"There's been a little bit of a crisis in the launch industry," said Michael
Marx, a satellite industry analyst with Arthur D. Little. But the attempt on
Oct. 10 begins an ambitious schedule of 20 launches by the company
through 2002.
"People are standing by waiting to see how it's going to work and whether
they're willing to jump on board with something as non-traditional as Sea
Launch is," Marx said. "It could be the beginning of a new way of doing
these things."
Partners of Boeing include Norwegian ship builder Kvaerner Maritime,
Russia's RSC Energia and Ukrainian rocket maker KB Yuzhnoye/PO
Yuzhmash.
"This is as good as it gets in the rocket launching business," Bo Bejmuk,
Sea Launch vice president and general manager said Thursday. "Right now
we are in the final stages."
Workers were loading case of food and equipment onto the platform and
the support vessel Thursday at a former U.S. Navy Base. The launch
platform is to begin its journey from Long Beach Saturday, with the faster
support ship following a few days later.
At a news conference Thursday, Sea Launch officials indicated their
biggest obstacles in the past two years have been political, not technical.
Last year, the State Department suspended the project to investigate
concerns that Boeing may have transferred sensitive technical information
to its Russian and Ukrainian partners.
Investigators concluded that no sensitive data was actually transferred, but
ordered Boeing to pay a $10 million penalty for exchanging information
without first getting federal clearance.
Earlier this year, the launch date had to be postponed while the State
Department, and other federal agencies took a close look at
subcontractors supporting RSC Energia, which builds the rocket's upper
stage and integrates it with the rest of the rocket.
The subcontractors were cleared, but Sea Launch had to postpone its first
commercial liftoff that had been scheduled for Aug. 29, said company
President Allen Ashby.
"The State Department is reacting to congressional direction and other
things that have resulted in considerable tightening" of review procedures,
Ashby said.
Other companies that make and launch satellites have had recent
problems, including four launch failures by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT).
Each resulted in military and private satellites being destroyed or placed in
useless orbits.
At the same time, the market for new satellites has slowed. Irridium LLC,
the satellite telephone network backed by Motorola Inc. (MOT) and
others, filed for bankruptcy last month. Two other satellite-based
telephone systems, ICO Global Communications (ICOFQ) and Ellipso,
are struggling.
Copyright ¸ 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
