Platforms International Inc. (PLFM), a major developer of unmanned systems, has recently opened a new Space Division, according to Howard Foote, Platforms’ president and CEO.
He added that “We are already negotiating delivery of the
hardware for the Space Division’s initial project: development of the
SpaceRay commercial satellite launch vehicle.”
The SpaceRay system is specifically designed to occupy the
leadership position in the rapidly expanding world market for
commercial space services. It is the only system that satisfies all
five criteria – payload capability, availability, reliability, cost,
and user friendliness – established by the Commercial Space
Transportation Study (CSTS) as most important for the ideal
commercial launch service.
Projections by both Boeing and the CSTS (a launch market
analysis produced jointly by NASA and the aerospace industry)
indicate a $20-$25 billion market for commercial space launches over
the next ten years.
Three major satellite communications networks are already in
development, one by Motorola, another by the GlobalStar partnership,
and a third by a joint venture of Craig McCaw, Bill Gates, and AT&T.
These three projects alone will put up almost a thousand
communication satellites.
About half of this $20-25 billion annual market will be for
launch vehicles to place satellites in orbit. In the race for this
business Platforms International’s SpaceRay is way ahead of the pack
because it uses entirely flight-proven, off-the-shelf hardware,
without any need for technology breakthroughs or advances in the
state of the art.
This technology leadership has been achieved by Platforms
International’s arrangements with other aerospace engineering firms.
The SpaceRay launch vehicle is designed to put satellites in
orbit at half the cost of current competition. The vehicle is
horizontally launched and recovered.
Thus the massive and extremely costly ground infrastructure
typical of competing systems is completely avoided. And the
SpaceRay is a reusable vehicle; it will return to earth to land much
like the Space Shuttle.
SpaceRay’s streamlined system designed will enable
launch-on-demand and pay-on-launch, in contrast to today’s typical
three-year advance contracts involving a series of progress
payments.
It will reduce payload turnaround times from months to hours.
And it will allow for the broadest range of payload configurations –
alone a major advantage in gaining market share.
Director of Operations for the Space Division will be Skip Holm,
one of the most highly-decorated pilots in the Vietnam War. Holm
was formerly an instructor at the USAF Test Pilot School.
The Space Division is the company’s third major division, taking
its place alongside Platform’s International’s established Airborne
Communications Relay (ARC) System and System Software Development
divisions.
“Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: Any statements in this document that predict or
appear to predict future outcomes represent the company’s
expectations based on current reality. The company cautions
investors that the outcome could differ significantly from such
anticipatory statements, depending on the effect of normal risks and
uncertainties and a range of variable market factors.
