To Space, Thrifty Style
Another RLV company steps up to the plate...
by Peter Wainwright
PRESS RELEASE 05-03-00
For years now, the private citizen has only dreamed of reaching space. Today, however, a dynasty is being born in the tiny Pacific Northwest United States town of Oroville, Washington. One small company of physicists, chemists, engineers, pilots, technicians, and a medical doctor seek the goal of 145 miles (236 km) above the Earth with a payload of 2 passengers and 1 pilot.
Two weeks after their first flight, they will fly again.
Cerulean Freight Forwarding Company
(CFFC) was founded April 19, 1999, in Washington State with the mission to provide low-cost space access to not only the large corporations and the big governments but also to the working guy, the little-old-lady tourist, the small business, and the classroom.
Their exposure has been minimal, advertising budget nearly non-existent, and labor, volunteer. Beginning in 1971, the CFFC parent Aerodesic Research has designed, modified, redesigned, minimized cost, and optimized safety for the CFFC product line--spacecraft that take off and land at a typical runway, be refueled and examined, and take off again in 50 minutes.
Cerulean Freight has designed three classes of craft, starting small
with Kitten
and working through Calico to the largest: Angora. Kitten promises to enable microsatellite launch for US$105,000, as well as hour-long space rides to 145 miles for up to 6 minutes of zero-gee experience. Calico is being developed in parallel with the Kitten class. It will provide hypersonic (mach 5+) intercontinental freight and passenger services. It will also enable an economic satellite and space infrastructure launch of up to 1.8 metric tones (about 4000 lbs) of cargo or 10 passengers, for orbital services lasting over 9 hours at 465 miles (750km) up. Angora promises to usher in the 3rd industrial revolution with its low cost to orbit 15 metric tones (33000 lb) payload or 60-passenger design. These space cats promise to bring costs from the NASA standard of about US$15,000/kg to below US$1,200/kg. US$600+ million per launch for a space shuttle equates US$19.5 million for higher CFFC payload capacity (23 tones to 23.4 tones, respectively).
CFFC promises launches can start 18 months after funding requirements are met (a US$800,000 letter of intent) and begin putting the private citizen in space for the first time, thrifty style.
Check out this X-Prize applicant at http://www.thriftyspace.com/.
For more information contact:
For years now, the private citizen has only dreamed of reaching space. Today, however, a dynasty is being born in the tiny Pacific Northwest United States town of Oroville, Washington. One small company of physicists, chemists, engineers, pilots, technicians, and a medical doctor seek the goal of 145 miles (236 km) above the Earth with a payload of 2 passengers and 1 pilot.
Two weeks after their first flight, they will fly again.
Cerulean Freight Forwarding Company
(CFFC) was founded April 19, 1999, in Washington State with the mission to provide low-cost space access to not only the large corporations and the big governments but also to the working guy, the little-old-lady tourist, the small business, and the classroom. Their exposure has been minimal, advertising budget nearly non-existent, and labor, volunteer. Beginning in 1971, the CFFC
parent Aerodesic Research has designed, modified, redesigned, minimized cost, and optimized safety for the CFFC product line--spacecraft that take off and land at a typical runway, be refueled and examined, and take off again in 50 minutes. Cerulean Freight has designed three classes of craft, starting small
with Kitten
and working through Calico to the largest: Angora. Kitten promises to enable microsatellite launch for US$105,000, as well as hour-long space rides to 145 miles for up to 6 minutes of zero-gee experience. Calico is being developed in parallel with the Kitten class. It will provide hypersonic (mach 5+) intercontinental freight and passenger services. It will also enable an economic satellite and space infrastructure launch of up to 1.8 metric tones (about 4000 lbs) of cargo or 10 passengers, for orbital services lasting over 9 hours at 465 miles (750km) up. Angora promises to usher in the 3rd industrial revolution with its low cost to orbit 15 metric tones (33000 lb) payload or 60-passenger design. These space cats promise to bring costs from the NASA standard of about US$15,000/kg to below US$1,200/kg. US$600+ million per launch for a space shuttle equates US$19.5 million for higher CFFC payload capacity (23 tones to 23.4 tones, respectively). CFFC
promises launches can start 18 months after funding requirements are met (a US$800,000 letter of intent) and begin putting the private citizen in space for the first time, thrifty style. Check out this X-Prize
applicant at http://www.thriftyspace.com/. For more information contact:
Cerulean Freight Forwarding Company
32986 Suite 6 Hwy 97
Oroville, WA 98844
Phone: (509) 476-2712
Fax: (707) 897-2511
Email: info@thriftyspace.com
