WASHINGTON -- America's first suborbital commercial launch is scheduled for March 29, Secretary of Transportation Samuel K. Skinner said Friday in announcing the approval of a commercial launch license to Space Services Inc. of America, of Houston.
'This license approval paves the way for additional U.S. commercial launch companies to compete for space transportation services,' the secretary said.
The SSI launch will take place at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and consists of a recoverable payload provided by the University of Alabama at Huntsville Consortium for Materials Development in Space.
The payload, the Consort I, is being launched on a trajectory that will provide over seven minutes of time to conduct six materials processing experiments. Each experiment has been developed by one or more principal investigators from UAH or industry.
In 1982, even before the Office of Commercial Space Transportation was established, SSI launched a private rocket, the Conestoga I, from a private launch site at Matagorda Island, Texas. The Conestoga I launch eventually culminated in the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, the department said.
Since then, SSI has been engaged in the design, marketing, and sale of launch vehicles for orbital and suborbital applications. The Consort I launch, part of the Starfire series of vehicles, will provide sounding rocket services for an equally wide range of missions.
The Starfire is a two-stage sounding rocket which can provide lift for over 1,000 pounds of payload. The first stage is the Morton Thiokol TX664-4, MK 70 motor. The second stage is a Bristol Aerospace Black Brant VC, the department said.