HALIFAX - A Canadian-American consortium with plans to ferry cargo and people to the International Space Station from a launch site in Cape Breton says its failure to secure a contract from NASA won't affect the future of the project.
Chicago-based PlanetSpace was passed over for a NASA contract that would have provided the company with US$170 million to develop and demonstrate technology to service the space station.
The company has been developing its Silver Dart spacecraft, which could perform many of the same functions as NASA's aging space shuttle feet, which will be taken out of service in 2010.
But chairman Chirinjeev Kathuria said Wednesday that the contract merely offered seed money for a demonstration mission, and he noted PlanetSpace's project has the financial backing of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., ATK, a launch specialty company, and the Bank of Montreal.
He said that will allow research and development work to continue as PlanetSpace prepares to bid for actual service contracts from NASA, which could be tendered later this year.
The company is also exploring other opportunities such as space tourism and work for private companies.
"A lot of the fundamentals of our business are based on space tourism and point-to-point travel, because that's where we really see the majority of the revenue coming," Kathuria said in an interview from Chicago.
"The NASA award would be great, but that's a small part of our business plan."
Kathuria said his company's technology could also be used to launch satellites or to quickly transport cargo across the globe. He suggested major courier companies have already expressed interest, though he didn't offer specifics.
He also predicted that space tourism will eventually become a multibillion-dollar industry. The company has estimated it could charge as much as US$250,000 per flight.
Kathuria said the company hasn't chosen a launch site in Cape Breton.
Still, test launches could happen next year, he said.
NASA's demonstration contract was awarded Wednesday to Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., which has committed to a demonstration mission by December 2010.
Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft will be launched atop its new Taurus II rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The company currently designs and launches satellites and also builds missile defence systems.
The NASA funding will allow Orbital to demonstrate its technology, but that won't prevent other companies from bidding on some of the transportation contracts, said Kathuria.
"Our focus has always been on making sure we win the procurement and the services contract, because that's where the real money is," he said.
A NASA spokesperson was unavailable for comment Wednesday, and the American space agency hasn't set a firm time line for the next phase of its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program.
NASA has said using private firms to develop such technology will allow it to focus on future missions to the moon and Mars.
