brahms@trwspp.UUCP (03/20/84)
[Go, ahead, make my day....]
Taken from L.A. Times Business section (Tuesday, Mar 20)
INDUSTRIALIST ROCKWELL'S FIRM TO OPEN TALKS ON SPACE SHUTTLE PURCHASE
In what would be an unprecedented move to commercialize space travel,
industrialist Willard F. Rockwell Jr. said Monday that his Cyprus Corp.
has agreed with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to open
discussions to buy a new space shuttle vehicle.
So far, no private corporation has ever successfully owned and
operated a manned space system, although several commercial efforts are
under way to develop less complex unmanned launch systems.
Cyprus would use the shuttle as a private launch service for
communications satellites, Rockwell said.
BOOST FOR INDUSTRY
Whether Rockwell's firm succeeds is likely to depend in large part on
whether he can arrange financing for such a purchase. At a cost of "about
$2 billion," the purchase of a space shuttle orbiter would certainly
require the resources of several of Wall Street's largest
investment-banking firms, Rockwell said.
..... The only other proposal to buy a shuttle came in 1982 from a small
company formed to capitalize on commercial development of space. Its
offer, however, never got past the talking stage and the complany has
since gone out of business.
..... In a telephone interview, Rockwell played down the various risks
involved in such an enormous and unique undertaking, including a lack of
demand for a private shuttle or a crash that would destroy the vehicle.
"The risks aren't all that great," he insisted. "We can do a lot
with insurance. We would be going to the biggest insurance people in the
world."
Rockwell said the growing demand for launching private communications
satellites cannot be met by the existing NASA fleet of shuttles. The
government currently owns three shuttles and is scheduled to take delivery
of the fourth shuttle latter this year. Typically, the government charges
the owners of satellites a fee for launching them with the shuttle.
GENERAL GUIDELINES OUTLINED
Although he emphasized that the detailed economics of the investment
have yet to be worked out, Rockwell said he would like to charge "whatever
the traffic would bear" in launching satellites. But in practice, he said
he would be limited to about $100 million for a payload taking the full
cargo bay. NASA charges $75 million, he said.
The NASA letter to Cyprus outlines several general guidelines that it
would follow in negotiation any agreement for a sale, including NASA's
right to schedule launches, the priority of safety and a pricing policy
that would not drive up launching costs to customers. NASA said in the
letter that it does not reserve exclusivity to Cyprus, meaning that it
stands ready to sell other space shuttles.
----------EOA----------
-- Brad Brahms
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