ATK, Boeing, Lockheed to launch at SLC 36

Hours after being dedicated for commercial launch operations, Launch Complex 36 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station got its first potential customer.

PlanetSpace, a consortium of ATK, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, announced today that it proposes to launch a 158-foot solid-fuel rocket by 2011 from the historic launch pad at Cape Canaveral, which the Air Force has agreed to lease to Space Florida. The rocket would be capable of carrying about two metric tons of cargo to the International Space Station.

NASA plans to announce who gets the award on Dec. 23. The company says its plan would create 350 new jobs in Florida, with an economic impact of $300 million. PlanetSpace expects to have at least two competitors for the award.

Meanwhile, using state money, Space Florida will set about turning the abandoned complex into a serviceable launch pad, which it hopes will attract other customers to a commercial launch zone where tariffs and other limitations will be eliminated.

"The door is now open to more innovation," said Gov. Charlie Crist, who spoke Wednesday at the groundbreaking of the commercial launch pad.

Launch Complex 36 is now only a domed bunker beside a concrete slab at CCAFS. The U.S. Air Force, which controls the property, intends to lease the site to Space Florida after an environmental impact analysis. Space Florida then would build a launch facility that could accommodate medium to light rockets.

"This is a rebirth of a historical launch complex," said Space Florida President Steve Kohler.

The state has appropriated some $14.5 million for the project and has bonding authority for another $40 million.

"We hope that the first phase of development could reach $55 million to build it out," said Kohler.

PlanetSpace hopes to be first to use the new launch pad in 2011. Under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services program, the group hopes to win a $3.1 billion NASA contract to move 20 metric tons of cargo to the space station with 10 to 12 rocket launches.

PlanetSpace proposes to cobble together existing rocket stages into a workable vehicle that could reach the space station. The first stage would consist of 2.5 solid rocket segments and a steering skirt similar to a solid rocket booster on the space shuttle. The second stage is the ATK CASTOR 120, which is topped by an ATK CASTOR 30 and a flight-proven cargo module.

"The stage itself has not flown, but the pieces that make it up have," said Al Simpson of Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

Work on this commercial venture will not interfere with development of the Ares I, which is scheduled to replace the shuttle in 2015, said ATK spokesman George Torres.

The PlanetSpace rocket will be simpler to launch because it burns solid fuel, Torres added.

"You don't have to fuel it on the pad," he said.