Oct 23 2000
From The Space Library
Chairman and founder of Beal Aerospace Technologies Inc. Andrew Beal announced his decision to cease all business operations effective immediately. The company had sought to develop low-cost, reliable, commercial space launch systems and had "made significant advances in low cost hydrogen peroxide propulsion systems." Beal expressed confidence that, despite the company's cost overruns and schedule delays, Beal Aerospace Technologies could have successfully developed its BA-2C rocket-launch system if it had remained in operation. Beal outlined the risk factors that had been beyond the company's control and had led to the decision to cease operations: 1) NASA's and the U.S. government's commitment to the subsidization of competing launch systems; 2) federal laws mandating the company's "potential liability for pre-existing environmental contamination at the only available Cape Canaveral launchpads"; and 3) uncertainty about receiving approval from the U.S. Department of State to launch from the company's launch facilities in Guyana. Beal remarked that government subsidization of launch systems was the primary reason that the company had to choose, either to become a government contractor, like the Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin, or to cease operations.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
