Used No Government Funds in Development : Small Firm Set to Launch First Rocket

A 4-year-old Camarillo-based aerospace company unveiled its first industrial rocket Thursday, calling it an innovative vehicle that will make space research cheaper and more commercially feasible.

American Rocket Co. will equip the 58-foot rocket with two scientific experiments and launch it Sept. 20 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The company has spent $15 million on the rocket’s development and is using no government funds--a feat that company and government officials say is a first in the industry.

The rocket was dubbed the Koopman Express, after company co-founder George Koopman, who was killed in an auto accident July 19.

The company claims that the rocket will bring the possibilities of space research to scientists and commercial enterprises that cannot now afford it.

Two Payloads

“We’re looking at about one-third the conventional cost,” company spokesman George Whittinghill said at a news conference. He said the company aims to build additional rockets for about $15 million each.

The fledgling company hopes to build its empire by flying space cargoes, such as pharmaceutical or semiconductor experiments, into low orbit, a need officials say is reflected by the fact that the rocket will carry two payloads on its 15-minute flight.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is testing a deployable heat shield and the federal government is conducting a Strategic Defense Initiative test involving “an environmentally clean chemical release experiment,” said Robert Wolf, the company’s deputy director of technical operations. Company officials declined to elaborate on the contents of the government’s payload.

Company engineers also say they have designed a safe, non-explosive propulsion system to power the prototype rocket.

More Reliable Fuel

Conventional rockets use either a solid propellant that is a fast-burning mixture of fuel and oxidizer, or burn liquid fuel and liquid oxidizer. Both methods are unsafe because solid propellant is dangerously unstable and liquid fuel can ignite if exposed to a spark or heat, company officials say.

But American Rocket officials say they can offer employees and customers a safer, more reliable method.

The rocket will rely on solid polybutadiene rubber fuel--”shelf rubber with our own special herbs and spices added,” Wolf said.

To fire the engine, liquid oxygen is injected into the engine chamber containing the rubber, along with another chemical compound, triethylaluminum, which ignites spontaneously when it comes into contact with the oxygen.

Acting company President James Bennett said the company has U.S. Department of Transportation and Air Force approval for the launch.

The company will pay the Air Force $200,000 for use of the site, Air Force personnel and equipment, company officials said.