“We haven’t been able to agree on all the elements of the business plan so we will not be part of the program going forward,” Orbital Sciences spokesman Barron Beneski said Sept. 25. “And of course as a result we will not be investing the $10 million.”
aero313- 25/9/2006 9:16 PMMore surprising, Kistler has dumped something like $600M into K1 todate and according to the article expects to need ANOTHER $600M ($207Mfrom NASA and twicethat much from investors) to execute COTS.
aero313 - 26/9/2006 2:16 AMI'm surprised no one else has started a thread on this.
Jim - 25/9/2006 10:07 PMIt is a Kistler estimate. Rocketplane management has nothing to do with it, their main subs are LM, NG and Aerojet. Basically Kistler doesn't build anything, they pay people to build things.
guidanceisgo - 26/9/2006 5:34 AMMaybe we should move this thread to the private spaceflight area. COTS is big news in the private world. RPK doesn't seem to get the same press as Spacex. Maybe its a good think in this instance!
ianmga - 26/9/2006 9:14 AMAnd Draper Lab...
JIS - 30/4/2007 4:28 AMIt looks like next bankruptcy is very close.
space_dreamer - 30/4/2007 9:11 AMI’ve always thought that Kistler was a really bad choice for cots. They already spent $500 million with out a single fight! What a sick joke! If only the ordinal $500 million had been invested into Xcor, Armadillo, Bristol Spaceplanes, Starchaser, Spacedev etc…The second COTS prize (after SpaceX) should have gone to Spacedev or Tspace.
space_dreamer - 30/4/2007 4:27 PMI meant for the investment that Kistler got before COTS. What was wrong with Tspace cots entry?
Rocketplane Kistler Says It Has New Strategic Partner in the WingsWASHINGTON - Rocketplane Kistler President Randy Brinkley said Sept. 25 that the Oklahoma City-based company already has found another firm willing to replace Orbital Sciences Corp. as prime contractor for the K-1 reusable launch vehicle."We're very comfortable with the new partner and think it's a good fit," Brinkley said.Brinkley declined to identify Rocketplane Kistler's new partner but said that the unnamed U.S. company would take over Orbital Sciences' systems engineering and integration role on the K-1 and make a strategic investment "equal to or greater" than the $10 million Orbital had planned to bring to the table.
Rocketplane Kistler and ATK Announce Agreement for K-1 Launch Vehicle and COTS ProgramATK Will Lead Vehicle Development, Vehicle Assembly, Integration and Test, and Launch and Landing Site OperationsOklahoma City and Salt Lake City, November 8, 2006 – Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) and Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) announced today that ATK will become the lead contractor for RpK’s K-1 launch vehicle, which was recently awarded a Space Act Agreement by NASA for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. The K-1 is a fully reusable space transportation system designed to provide cost-effective and reliable transport of cargo and science payloads to and from the International Space Station (ISS).
Christine - 30/4/2007 10:00 PMSomehow, all I suspect that they've taken over are the first round COTS payments...