I saw this on AOL:
Subject: Popular Science Article... Thoughts? Comments?
Date: Mon, May 11, 1998 16:48 EDT
From: BEERAD2
Message-id: <1998051120480800.QAA05778@ladder03.news.aol.com>
An article was published in Popular Science this month. It seems to have
many similarities to PLFM's tech. I could not find the article on the
web, so I'll here it is verbatim...
Edited by Dawn Stover
"Very Low Orbit"
"Aerospace engineer Burt Rutan's latest aircraft is nearing completeion
at a hangar in Mojave, Cal. Called the Proteus, the 6-ton plane has a
tail-first design with two twin tailbooms, and slender gull wings
spanning 95 feet. The all-composite Proteus looks convential by Rutan
standards, buts its mission is unique.
Angel Tecchnologies, the St. Louis company funding the devolpment of the
Proteus, intends to use the plane as a low-flying satellite to provide
ultrafast telecommunications to big cities. With the antennas as small
and inexpensive as direct-broadcast TV satellite dishes, customers will
be able to bounce signals off the plane's bellymounted antenna rapidly
enough for two-way videoconferencing, high resolution image
transmissions, and otherspeed-hog applications.
The airplane's twin Williams FJ44 turofan engines will produce 10 times
as much electrical power as a satellite's solar cells, and b/c the plane
is closer to the ground than a satellite, signals travel faster with
less power. The results is that the Proteus will relay at a rate of 16
gigabits per second - 100 times as fast as any existing satellite. The
airplane is expected to cost less than $5 million, versues $100 million
merely to launch a satellite, and its 1-ton electronics package can be
repaired or upgraded on the ground.
Three airplanes could provide 24-hour service to as many as 500,000
terminals, depending on the average level of traffic, the company says.
As well as bringing high-speed coverage to European and American cities,
the Angel system could supply voice service to cities lacking a modern
phone system. The first Angel network could be operational within a few
years.
Built by Rutan's Scaled Composites company, the Proteus plane at the
herat of the Angel system will have two pilots. The cabin includes a
sleeping area, because the airplane can stay airborne for 18 hours. The
plane will cruise at 52,000 feet, higher than other commercial traffic
and above most weather.
Named after a shape-changing Roman god, the Proteus is designed to carry
a variety of pods or antennas for a wide range of potential civil and
military missions. Rutan thinks the plane may even be useful as a
platform for launching reusable rockets into space." - Bill Sweetman
There are many similarities. Seems like the two are competing for the
same product. Seems like Platforms has a few on Angels Tech though. For
one they will not be ready for a few more years. They have men "manning"
their aircrafts. Also their duration of airtime seems to be much less.
-Please I'd like to read your thoughts on this article.
-If someone could post this on SI's board I'd appreciate it.
-For those who talk with Howard and Todd. If they have heard of this
company.
Thanks. Position a lil over 20,000 shares and holding long.
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