Mar 15 1999
From The Space Library
After assessing its safety aspects, officials from the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) commercial space office approved the first space launch from a platform in the sea. The FAA issued the launch license to an international launch consortium known as Sea Launch. The Boeing Company, based in the United States, was a 40 percent partner in the consortium. The Sea Launch Company planned a demonstration launch for 27 March 1999, from a converted, self-propelled, oil-drilling platform in the Pacific Ocean. The consortium's initiative, to launch communications satellites from a mid-ocean location at the equator, offered several advantages, such as the capability to lift heavier-than-normal payloads.
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