Launches Grounded by Old Technology : Rocket Failures Point to Hazards of Trying to Do Business in Space

The failure of Lockheed Martin’s first commercial rocket during launch of a GEMstar satellite last week underscores the dependence of emerging telecommunications enterprises on Cold War-era missile technology.

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The destruction of the $16-million rocket and its $2-million to $3-million communications payload also points out a hazard of trying to do business in space.

“It’s gotten to the point where you make three to get two up there,” said Jack Modzelewski, an aerospace and defense analyst at PaineWebber in New York.

“It’s pretty clear that rockets are not an easy business,” he said. “All of this stuff is really old technology: Titan, Delta, Atlas. All have been around 30 years.”

Many of the workhorse rockets have had recent problems.

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Failures in test firings delayed upcoming launches of Lockheed-built Titan IV rockets for the Air Force. A McDonnell Douglas Delta rocket didn’t get into the proper orbit when it launched a Korean satellite carrying television, video and data services technology on Aug. 5. Even the newer Pegasus rocket built by Orbital Sciences Corp. has been grounded and isn’t expected to fly until early fall.

Among recent international failures:

* A control system aboard an experimental Russian Start booster rocket failed on March 28, destroying three satellites, including Israel’s Gurwin-1.

* On Jan. 26, a Chinese Long March-2 rocket exploded, along with a U.S.-made Apstar-2 satellite carrying television, telephone and digital communications for Asia.

* Last December, an Ariane rocket built by the commercial arm of the European Space Agency crashed, destroying two communications satellites. It was the seventh failure in 71 launches.

While insurance covers the satellite, there is a loss of revenue from the service the satellite would generate, according to Don O’Neal, a spokesman for Hughes Space and Communications Co.

O’Neal said the reliance of the U.S. launch vehicle industry on military technology has been a concern of the satellite industry for a long time.

“There’s no vehicle in the U.S. inventory designed exclusively for commercial use,” O’Neal said. But even with its satellite losses, “we have a high degree of confidence in most of the launch vehicles that we use,” he said.

Jeff Torkelson, a spokesman for satellite operator Hughes Communications Inc., said his firm has anticipated risks by dedicating spare satellites, “so if we lose a satellite during launch, in most cases we are able to provide uninterrupted services for our customers until we build a replacement.”

In Tuesday’s failed mission, officials at Vandenberg Air Force Base destroyed the first of the new Lockheed Launch Vehicles minutes into an erratic flight. It was carrying a 300-pound GEMstar communications satellite owned by CTA Inc. and built by CTA Space Systems.

The satellite, which had been expected to orbit for five years, would have provided electronic mail services for a humanitarian organization called Volunteers in Technical Assistance, allowing villages in developing countries to communicate by computer.

CTA was offering commercial services through the satellite, including a locator service for trucking fleet operators and other shippers.

CTA said it is reassessing its options.

Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space said the rocket was designed with established, low-cost designs and materials in an attempt to hold down expenses for customers who want to place a satellite in orbit.

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It uses motors found on other vehicles as well as off-the-shelf hardware, said spokesman Jim Graham. He said it was designed in the past 2 1/2 years with newer and more advanced electronics than the ballistic missiles the company has been making for the Navy since the late 1950s.

“We’ve got a whole lot of proven things that we built into this design . . . but there is always risk in space flight,” said Lockheed Martin spokesman Don Bane.

Bane said Lockheed Martin has signed contracts to launch six of the new rockets.

The next scheduled launch is in June, 1996.