Kelly Space & Technology Inc. (KST) has been awarded a million dollar contract by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to perform a space transportation architecture study. The one-year study contract is to develop approaches to meet NASA's future human space flight requirements with significant reductions in cost.
"KST's selection by NASA to participate in this study is
significant because it underscores our company's mission to
commercially provide the lowest cost, most reliable and most
responsive transportation to our customer's orbits," said Bob Davis,
KST president/chief executive officer.
KST is a commercial reusable space transportation systems
development and operations company, which was founded in 1993 by
Michael Kelly and Michael Gallo. The company is located at the San
Bernardino International Airport, the former Norton Air Force Base, in
San Bernardino.
KST is one of five companies NASA selected for the one-year study
contracts. The others are: Boeing Information, Space, and Defense
Systems, Seal Beach, Calif.; Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver,
Colo.; Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Va.; and Space Access,
LLC, Palmdale, Calif. The study contracts involve different numbers of
tasks and range in value from $1-2 million each.
According to NASA, "The industry-led studies will provide
information to support future policy decisions determining if the
Space Shuttle system should be replaced; if so, when; if not, what
upgrade strategy is required to continue safe and affordable Space
Shuttle flight.
"The studies will assess architectures that offer potential cost
savings, including future scenarios that keep the Space Shuttle
operational until 2020 and replace the Space Shuttle when
cost-effective, and will develop an architecture that assumes NASA's
current funding level for space transportation. These studies will
identify the government marginal investment necessary for the
commercial launch industry to meet NASA's launch requirements."
KST's program manager for the contract is Jim Hollopeter. The
company has selected the following firms to be on KST's contractor
team for this submittal: Eclipse Space Lines, a KST affiliate also
located in San Bernardino, Calif.; TRW Strategic Systems Division with
offices located in San Bernardino, Calif.; the Advanced Systems
Technology Unit of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems & Architectures
Sector., Pico Rivera, Calif.; ECON Inc., Los Angeles; and Raven
Aerospace, Houston, Texas.
According to Hollopeter, "The KST team of aerospace experts,
along with our talented subcontractors, are very pleased to have been
selected by NASA to perform this important study to develop
requirements for a next generation of space launch vehicles.
"As part of this contract, we look forward to supplying NASA with
information on KST's Tow Launch Technology and our economical and
operationally efficient Astroliner reusable launch vehicle, " he said.
"KST's Tow Launch Technology, coupled with the Astroliner's
reusability, lowers cost and increases flexibility well beyond that
for fixed-site, expendable or weight-limited airborne launch systems,"
noted Hollopeter.
The company currently is developing the Astroliner, a reusable
aerospace plane, which will begin commercial operations by mid-2002.
As KST's flagship vehicle, the piloted Astroliner will provide a cargo
delivery service, ranging from deploying satellites to ultimately
enabling the general public to travel in space.
KST has an $89 million contract with Motorola Inc. to launch 20
communications satellites into orbit for Iridium, a satellite-based,
global personal communications system which Motorola has developed. With the patented KST Tow Launch Technology, the company will use a modified Boeing 747 to tow the Astroliner from conventional airports anywhere around the globe to its "launch site" at 20,000 feet of altitude.
KST's technological innovation was recognized yesterday (Sept.
17) by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), which presented
KST with a Roland Tibbetts award for being a 'model of technology
excellence.'
Firms competing for the award were involved with the SBA's Small
Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. Judging was based on the
economic impact of their technological innovations and overall
business achievements.
KST was bestowed the honor for successfully demonstrating its Tow
Launch Technology. Robert Keltner served as KST's SBIR program
manager.
Last December through February, KST successfully demonstrated its
Tow Launch Technology during all six flight demonstrations conducted
with NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center and the Air Force Flight
Test Center at Edwards Air Force in Edwards, Calif., under a SBIR
contract awarded by the Air Force Research Laboratory.
In his commentary at the awards presentation in Washington DC,
SBA senior official Terry Bibbens said, "The Kelly Space & Technology
Inc. Tow Launch Technology is one of the most promising approaches for
reducing the launch cost of sub-orbital and orbital payloads."
