Nevada offers Test Site for new space program

Friday, Sept. 10, 1999 | 11:06 a.m.

What Nevada Offers

Late next year or in early 2001, Lockheed Martin will choose two launch sites from 31 locations in 18 states for its VentureStar project. Here's what Nevada is pitching in its bid to lure the project to Nevada:

A partnership promoting the Nevada Test Site hopes to turn the desert north of Las Vegas into a local version of Cape Canaveral.

NTS Development Corp., which is coordinating the state's effort to lure Lockheed Martin's VentureStar space shuttle project to Nevada, said the state has a big advantage over other states with competing bids -- an existing spaceport user.

NTS Development already has contracted with Kirkland, Wash.-based Kistler Aerospace Corp. to provide land for facilities to launch its reusable K-1 orbital vehicle. The K-1, which will be tested in Australia next year, will be capable of placing three communications satellites in a low orbit over the Earth in one launch.

Representatives of NTS Development explained the status of the spaceport project in a Las Vegas Sun editorial board meeting Wednesday.

The telecommunications industry is driving the demand for increased space launches. More than 12 companies are building a backload of satellites ready for use. Experts estimate that 1,700 satellites will need to be deployed in the next 10 years.

Areas 18, 19 and 20 in the northern side of the Nevada Test Site -- a barren area the size of New Jersey that was the site of nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s -- is the planned location for Kistler's North American launch pad. Kistler also plans to launch from the coast of northern Australia.

The VentureStar, a project designed to replace America's space shuttle program, is a far bigger undertaking.

VentureStar is a shorter but wider arrowhead-shaped version of the space shuttle being developed by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works plant in Palmdale, Calif. Designed to launch on a single-stage rocket, the vehicle would use liquid fuel with a new high-tech propulsion system called a linear aerospike engine.

The spacecraft will take off vertically and land horizontally like today's space shuttle and developers are hoping it will lower the cost of putting payload in space from $10,000 to $1,000 per pound by being completely reusable and having smaller crews to make the vehicle ready for its next flight.

In addition to hauling satellites into orbit, the private company also is expected to have a huge government contract with NASA to transport materials to the International Space Station under construction in orbit above the Earth. Lockheed Martin hopes to have the VentureStar in operation by 2005.

Lockheed Martin currently is building a prototype vehicle about half the size of the VentureStar called the X-33. Test flights are scheduled to begin in summer 2000, flying 13 times the speed of sound 60 miles high to prove its advanced technological systems.

Developers want to have the prototype flying before they select at least two sites for launches and landings. There are 31 sites in 18 states bidding to host the VentureStar and reap the economic benefits that go with a project of its magnitude.

Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at UNLV, is expected to complete a report next month that will detail exactly how big the stakes are. Schwer's report is expected to outline the economic impact of a spaceport and its ancillary operations.

Early estimates put the figure at $3 billion a year. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., one of the federal government leaders involved in the bid to develop the Test Site, has said $60 billion would be spent worldwide on the commercial space sector by 2000.

Representatives of NTS Development say they are working with Gov. Kenny Guinn, Reid and other members of Nevada's congressional delegation to establish a unified front to convince Lockheed Martin that Nevada is the best place to house the VentureStar project.

Joseph Brown, chairman of the NTS Development board of directors, and Troy Wade, chairman of the Nevada Alliance for Defense Energy and Business, explained that some of the ancillary industries associated with the spaceport could be as valuable as the launch facility itself.

Officials estimate that more than $2 billion would be spent in Nevada within the first 10 years of project development. An estimated 3,000 construction jobs could result in the initial stages of building.

In addition to attracting business, NTS Development expects a launch facility will bolster scientific programs at Nevada's two universities.

Brown said in addition to attracting businesses concerned with launching satellites into space, the state could see gains in another area -- tourism.

Thousands of people line Florida's beaches whenever NASA launches a space shuttle from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.

Scott Craigie, a spokesman for the corporation, said both the Kistler and VentureStar launches should be highly visible and could provide a spectacle for tourists. The proposed launch site would be about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas and about 45 miles east of U.S. 95.

There are 18 states bidding for the VentureStar launch site, including four that NTS Development officials believe to be formidable competitors:

* Florida. The home of Cape Canaveral already has extensive infrastructure in place, although state leaders say their proposed site would be on the state's west coast. The site is ideal for placing satellites in orbit over the equator, but inclement weather can be a problem.

* California. One site is near Edwards Air Force Base, a backup landing site for the space shuttle. It's in the desolate Mohave Desert. The state's university system could provide employees for high-tech jobs.

* New Mexico. A third space shuttle landing site and home of White Sands, another aerospace test center. New Mexico could match Nevada's elevation advantage.

* Texas. Proposed are some desolate areas in the state that is home to the Johnson Space Center. Texas also has a high-tech center fed by university graduates and enormous political clout -- which may weigh heavier than other attribute.

* Other states in the running: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Utah and Arizona. South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado recently expressed interest in hosting the project, but experts say other states that got into the process earlier have a big edge on them.