[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 14 (Thursday, February 6, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E186-E187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              ``MARKETS HELP U.S. SPACE COMPETITIVENESS''

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DANA ROHRABACHER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 6, 1997

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, January 6, the Orlando-based 
Florida Today newspaper printed an interesting article about the 
growing competition within the United States to launch commercial 
satellites into space. In particular, the article reports on the new 
Long Beach, CA-based Sea Launch Co.
  This new Boeing-led consortium will transport rockets out to a 
floating launch platform in the Pacific southeast of Hawaii, where they 
can be launched more efficiently from the equator. Last year I attended 
the groundbreaking of Sea Launch's facilities in Long Beach along with 
several other colleagues, and can report that their initiative is most 
impressive.
  But the focus of the article is on how the Sea Launch effort poses a 
competitive threat to the older Cape Canaveral Air Station, where the 
Air Force's 45th Space Wing operates the eastern range and several 
part-Government, part-commercial launch facilities. In particular, the 
question of why Boeing would create a project to launch satellites 
elsewhere than Florida--or the new California and planned Alaska 
commercial spaceports--is raised.
  And the not-too-surprising answer comes from the House's own Dave 
Weldon, the distinguished Representative of Florida's space coast 
region: Since many observers agree that Government-managed launches 
have too much redtape and extra expense, the Air Force needs to step 
back from the day-to-day operations. My colleague was exactly on point, 
and courageous for saying so, albeit politely.
  Let me be more blunt. The fact is that we've been launching 
satellites on expendable rockets for nearly 40 years. The high costs of 
space lift today are a result of throwing away the rocket as we launch 
it, and the huge bureaucracy we've put in place to run the launches.
  We're already making significant investments in new technology with 
the NASA X-33 program to move toward fully reusable, single-stage-to-
orbit rockets. But it's just as important that we bring the 
efficiencies of competitive free enterprise to bear on such well-
understood activities as space launch. Which means we have to decrease 
the Government's involvement.
  Besides, the Air Force should be investing its limited resources in 
applying technologies such as those resulting from X-33 and the prior 
DC-X program to realize new capabilities like military spaceplanes, 
which could revolutionize warfighting and force structure requirements.
  In other words, if the Air Force can transfer the mundane function of 
space cargo transportation to the private sector, the Air Force can on 
space warfighting, becoming the ``Space and Air Force'' described in 
its new vision statement, Global Engagement.
  In summary, I strongly support the gentleman from Florida, Mr. 
Weldon, in his statements, and commend the entire article to my 
colleagues.

                   [From Florida Today, Jan. 6, 1997]

       Space Coast Has New Challenger as Launches Head Out to Sea

                           (By Robyn Suriano)

       Cape Canaveral.--Far away, in the cold shipyards of 
     Scotland and Norway, work is under way on a project that 
     gives local space advocates the shivers.
       The object of their worry is a floating launch platform 
     longer than a football field that will be used to send 
     rockets and their satellites into space from sea.
       The Boeing Co.-led international venture, called the Sea 
     Launch Co., is the first of its kind and more than a novel 
     way to get payloads into orbit.
       It could be a serious threat to Cape Canaveral Air Station, 
     where U.S. companies are fighting to keep their share of the 
     world's commercial launch business.
       ``What worries me is Boeing finding it more attractive to 
     go through all the complexities of a sea launch operation as 
     opposed to using the existing launch pads that we have here 
     at Cape Canaveral,'' said Ed O'Connor, executive director of 
     Florida Spaceport Authority, the Cocoa Beach-based 
     organization trying to increase the state's commercial space 
     business.
       ``There is a message in that, and that message concerns me 
     more than anything.''
       The new company was formed in April 1995 when Boeing, the 
     Russian space agency and private companies in Norway and the 
     Ukraine joined hands.
       Although military rockets have been launched from ships 
     since the late 1940s, Sea Launch is the first attempt to move 
     commercial space missions off land.
       What makes the venture potentially attractive to 
     companies)--and such a threat to the Cape--is that it will be 
     the only launch site to be directly on the equator.
       That's critical because most communication satellites must 
     be placed into equatorial orbits to do their jobs.
       By launching from that spot, satellite manufacturers could 
     get an added benefit not found at the Cape, where rockets 
     take off 30 degrees north of the equator.
       A trajectory from the Cape requires the rockets to use more 
     fuel to get their payload into the right orbit. Because they 
     have to carry extra fuel to get in place, the rockets can't 
     carry larger satellites.
       Officials hope the sea launch plan will allow rockets to 
     carry larger satellites into orbit at less cost, making more 
     money for the companies involved.
       ``The shortest distance to that orbit (for communications 
     satellites) is from the equator because it's straight up,'' 
     Sea Launch President Ron Olson said. ``Therefore, at that 
     shortest distance you can put a bigger satellite into 
     space.''
       If all goes according to plan, the first rocket should take 
     off from the sea platform in June 1998 carrying a Hughes 
     Communications satellite.
       Another 14 launches--all using Ukrainian-made Zenit 
     rockets--follow. Ten of those also will carry Hughes 
     Communications satellites.
       Sea Launch plans to run the operation from corporate 
     offices in Long Beach, Calif.
       From the California coast, the company's ship will set sail 
     carrying the Zenit rockets in its hull while its upper decks 
     serve as luxurious quarters for business executives.
       The ship, currently under construction in Scotland, will 
     need eight to 10 days to sail to a point southeast of 
     Hawaii--smack on the equator.
       There, it will meet a floating launch pad that has its own 
     engines and can move under its own power. The mobile pad is a 
     former oil drilling platform undergoing renovation at a 
     Norwegian shipyard.
       For the first few launches, the rockets will be transferred 
     from the ship to the floating pad while the two are docked 
     together in port, then set sail simultaneously for the 
     equator.
       But Sea Launch eventually wants to leave the launch pad at 
     sea for several months, using the ship to carry satellite-
     laden rockets to the site, where they will be transferred to 
     the platform by cranes.
       The Zenit rockets then would be launched from the pad using 
     an automated system that will reduce the number of people 
     needed to get the rockets ready, said Olson.
       ``The infrastructure that's required for launching at sea 
     is about half of what you see at the Cape,'' Olson said. ``We 
     just won't have a lot of people running around like they do 
     at the base.
       ``So therefore, the operating costs are considerably less 
     than what other people have to offer.''
       Olson declined to discuss Sea Launch prices, saying only 
     the company follows trade agreements made by the U.S. 
     government. In doing so, Sea Launch cannot cut its prices any 
     more than 15 percent below launches by other U.S. companies 
     from the Cape.
       A Hughes official, Barry Fagan, said the Sea Launch concept 
     is attractive for many reasons--including price--but mainly 
     because the demand for launches is growing fast.
       Seventeen Lockheed Martin Atlas and McDonnell Douglas Delta 
     rockets were

[[Page E187]]

     launched from the Cape in 1996, keeping Space Coast pads full 
     for the year.
       Fagan said the site simply can't support all the launches 
     in upcoming years as more satellites are put into orbit to 
     supply mobile phones, direct-to-home television and other 
     communications services.
       ``The biggest (factor) is the overall need for more 
     capacity,'' said Fagan, launch services acquisition manager 
     for Hughes. ``If you look at Atlas and Delta and the Cape in 
     general, there's just more demand than they can satisfy.''
       However, with the advantages of Sea Launch also comes 
     risks, including the company's use of an untested three-stage 
     Zenit rocket.
       Although a two-stage Zenit rocket has been used for years, 
     the three-stage design that Boeing will use for Sea Launch 
     never has flown. The new rocket will not have any test 
     flights before its first liftoff.
       Nonetheless, officials from Hughes and Sea Launch say the 
     rocket is not that big a risk.
       ``There are no real stretches technologically,'' Fagan 
     said. ``We're talking about all proven pieces. The real 
     challenge is just fitting all the pieces together and making 
     sure the system works as a whole.''
       ``It's one of the latest developed rockets available, and 
     we think it's the best,'' Olson added.
       Fagan and other Hughes officials are so confident Sea 
     Launch will work that they are calling on U.S. companies to 
     consider building their own mobile launch platform for 
     equatorial liftoffs.
       ``It may be something that's too new and too different, but 
     if Sea Launch proves the concept, and I think they will, then 
     the government and U.S. space industry might want to take a 
     look at this,'' Fagan said.
       One Cape customer--McDonnell Douglas--already is 
     considering taking its business south and launching its 
     rockets from a site 5 degrees north of the equator run by the 
     European Space Agency in South America.
       Such a move would be devastating to the Brevard County 
     economy, space officials say.
       Each launch of a Delta and Atlas mission infuses about $10 
     million into the local economy from salaries and money spent 
     on services needed to get the rocket ready, according to 
     Florida Spaceport Authority.
       But rather than focusing on an elaborate sea operation, it 
     may be more realistic for Space Coast officials to look for 
     ways to make the Cape more attractive to commercial 
     customers.
       For example, the Air Force may need to step back from its 
     day-to-day role in overseeing the Cape's launch pads, said 
     U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Palm Bay.
       The Air Force runs the Eastern Range, the tracking system 
     that monitors all rocket and shuttle launches from the Cape. 
     Some observers say the government-run launches are encumbered 
     by too much red tape and extra expense.
       While the military is taking steps to make the Cape more 
     competitive, more must be done, Weldon said.
       ``We're probably going to have to pick up the pace in the 
     next few years as the competition gets more intense,'' Weldon 
     said. ``Especially as it relates to updating the range and 
     redefining Air Force involvement as the operations become 
     increasingly commercial.
       ``We need to bring the Air Force more and more out of daily 
     operations if we're going to bring down the costs.''
       No matter what happens at the Cape, however, Sea Launch 
     officials say the Florida launch site is not going to be hurt 
     by their mobile platform--at least not now.
       ``There's enough business for everyone, there's just not 
     enough launchers right now to take care of it all,'' Olson 
     said.
       Said Fagan: ``The good news is that there's room for 
     everybody. If the Cape were to modernize and streamline, I 
     think they're going to maintain a significant portion of the 
     market.''
       Sea Launch Co. at a glance:
       Companies: Joint venture between Boening, Russian space 
     agency, and private companies in Norway and the Ukraine.
       Launch site: Floating launch pad longer than a football 
     field that will stationed along the equator near Hawaii.
       Rockets: Ukranian Zenit rockets will be used to launch 
     satellites in orbit.
       First launch: Scheduled for June 1998. Fourteen other 
     launches also are booked.

                          ____________________