A First Commercial Effort for Space Venture

A Russian-made rocket will carry a U.S. satellite into orbit from a platform floating in the equatorial Pacific Ocean early next month in the first commercial liftoff for a multinational venture led by Boeing Co., officials said Thursday.

If the launch by Sea Launch Co. goes as planned on Oct. 10, it could provide a welcome lift not only to Boeing and its overseas partners, but also to a satellite industry slowed by recent launch failures, a softening market and tighter U.S. scrutiny of technology sales.

“There’s been a little bit of a crisis in the launch industry,” said Michael Marx, a satellite industry analyst with Arthur D. Little.

Sea Launch is unique in its use of a floating platform as a launch pad, and in the international cast of companies backing the project.

Boeing’s partners include Norwegian shipbuilder Kvaerner Maritime, Russia’s RSC Energia and Ukrainian rocket maker KB Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash.

The launch pad consists of a converted oil drilling platform that will be accompanied by a support ship to a site on the equator 1,400 miles south of Hawaii. The Earth spins faster at the equator, giving rockets a boost in reaching orbit that allows them to carry heavier payloads.

In March, Sea Launch successfully fired a dummy payload into orbit in a test launch. In October, the payload will be a Hughes Space & Communications satellite designed to beam TV signals to the homes of DirecTV subscribers throughout the U.S.

The launch platform was scheduled to depart Long Beach on Saturday, with the faster support ship following a few days later.

Sea Launch’s biggest obstacles in the last two years have been political, not technical. Last year, the State Department suspended the project to investigate concerns that Boeing may have transferred sensitive technical information to its Russian and Ukrainian partners. Investigators concluded that no sensitive data was actually transferred, but ordered Boeing to pay a $10-million penalty for exchanging information without first getting federal clearance.

Earlier this year, the launch date had to be postponed as the State Department and other federal agencies took a close look at subcontractors supporting RSC Energia, which builds the rocket’s upper stage and integrates it with the rest of the rocket. The subcontractors were cleared, but Sea Launch had to postpone its first commercial liftoff from Aug. 29 to October, said company President Allen Ashby.

“The State Department is reacting to congressional direction and other things that have resulted in considerable tightening” of review procedures, Ashby said during a news conference.

So far, Sea Launch has 19 more launches scheduled, enough to keep the firm busy through 2002.