Arianespace President: Rocket Makers Should Cooperate


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	Arianespace President: Rocket Makers Should Cooperate By Frank Sietzen Jr. Special to SPACE.com posted: 07:00 am ET 30 May 2000

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WASHINGTON -- Should rocket makers throw their lots in together like the aviation industry did years ago?

While commercial space activities continue to far outpace both the military and civil space sectors each year, the dynamics of the fast-paced launch-services industry usually sparks competition and little cooperation.

Such pressures pit U.S. rocket makers like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Orbital Sciences against international competitors like Arianespace, Eurockot and Starsem.

But recently, issues that have grounded or delayed one particular booster often take the shape of a problem common to all - more like woes plaguing an entire industry that don't stop at the water's edge.
Such matters include uniform range safety standards, a global laundry list of personnel and schedule problems and standardized payload accommodations.

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Problems with payloads being late or delayed have, in the past year, affected the launch schedules of Europe's Ariane family, as well as the U.S.-built Atlas boosters.

With commercial space launches accelerating, some have suggested that such common issues be addressed by a global association of rocket builders and sellers.

Supporters of the idea point to the international aviation industry. While there is no shortage of competition for commercial plane rides available to passengers and cargoes, an international group also looks across geographic boundaries to larger matters that affect the flying public.

Advocates of space travel point to commercial aviation as their growth model, proposing that commercial passenger-carrying rockets and cargo-hauling spaceplanes will one day fill the skies just as today's winged aircraft ferry tourists and businessmen each day by the millions.

A space transportation group that shared data and resources could mark a major stage in the evolution of space into a common, global necessity.

So, with space launch taking off, is it time for a rocket association?

Doug Heydon thinks so.

Douglas Heydon

Heydon is the president of Arianespace, Inc., the U.S. arm of the European rocket consortium. Since the mid-1980's, Heydon has been the driving force behind an idea he calls "ISTA" -- the International Space Transportation Association.

Heydon's project would gather together all of the existing rocket makers and sellers into a association that would help the payload-paying customers for all rockets, while still preserving the hotly contested global competition for lucrative contracts.

Recently, he spoke with SPACE.com in his Washington, D.C., offices, flanked by models of his company's Ariane boosters, to give the background behind this key step in the development of commercial space.

SPACE.com: How did this all start -- the idea behind "ISTA"?

Heydon: Well, there has been for many years, certainly since the mid-1980s, an understanding and appreciation on the part of the satellite launch providers that there would be a benefit to the user community in having some commonality among the launch-services interfaces, that is, where the satellites and rockets connect up.

What developed was an ad-hoc standards approach -- not organized, but exchanging users manuals and other information, sort of to make sure we weren't doing anything stupid so spacecraft could be launched on each other's launcher.

SPACE.com: Why does that help users?

Heydon: The people that pay the bill -- the satellite makers -- could have access to all of the available launch vehicles in a relatively painless way. Systems become overcrowded, unavailable for some reason, down because of failures, whatever. So this had been the approach we had been taking. We had designed the attachment ring for the Payload Assist Module kick stage (which boosts satellites into their final orbit) so that it could accommodate a Delta, Atlas or Ariane vehicle. It had been used on the shuttle, which you might remember at the time was carrying commercial satellites.

SPACE.com: So these exchanges led you to consider something more permanent?

Heydon: Other aspects of the business clearly would benefit from some harmonization. I can think of variability in the treatment of third-party liability issues from country to country, common range-safety standards, tracking requirements, education of the public.

SPACE.com: So there was agreement among the rocket makers that these issues weren't being addressed?

Heydon: The notion that was formulated over the years was that these were but a number of areas of mutual and common concerns. We could address them in a way that could potentially improve customer services and service levels.

SPACE.com: How would this organization -- this 'ISTA' -- affect competition for contracts?

Heydon: This would in no way be anti-competitive, that is, affect the way we compete vigorously against each other, in the world market.

SPACE.com: What was your model?

Heydon: The model we used was the long-standing existence of the International Air Transport Association. That organization had been in existence to share trade issues with all international airlines. And this has occurred without limiting the competition for air service. That analogy is quite good.

SPACE.com: So how did you get support started?

Heydon: We posed this issue before a meeting in June 1997 at the Paris Air Show. There was strong support.

SPACE.com: Who was present?

Heydon: All of the major launch providers: McDonnell Douglas -- which had not yet been acquired by Boeing -- Boeing, Long March (China), Lockheed Martin via their ILA group and Starsem. It was a small collection of people at the air show.

SPACE.com: So you made the presentation for the creation of the ISTA?

Heydon: We outlined the sort of membership organization we had in mind, and we volunteered to be the focal point for the establishment of a working group.

SPACE.com: So what was the outcome of the "Meeting at LeBourget"?

Heydon: Everyone felt it was a good idea, so we proceeded to form a working group to get down to specifics.

SPACE.com: When did that happen?

Heydon: October 1997 at the Huntington Beach, California facilities of Boeing. They had volunteered to host that meeting.

SPACE.com: And you thrashed out the final form of the proposal?

Heydon: We decided upon a pair of proposed structures; how you would pay for it.

SPACE.com: How would you?

Heydon: It was based on how much payload your company put into space.

SPACE.com: So if everyone thought it was a great idea, and you had a possible structure in place, where is ISTA today?

Heydon: Politics. The Cox report came out, and the U.S. political response to the Chinese-export issue came out with a vengeance. We had all of the hysteria and the political gyrations going around that.

SPACE.com: So the consensus for cooperation collapsed?

Heydon: It had several effects. The Chinese pulled out. And it threw a roadblock in the way of the U.S. providers. Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin pulled in their horns.

SPACE.com: So much for the commitment for cooperation!

Heydon: It became impossible in this political climate.

SPACE.com: What do you do now?

Heydon: There are hopeful signs that Congress is working to undo some of the harmful effects of what I consider to be overreaction to the export issue.

SPACE.com: And politics?

Heydon: It will take the elections and the new U.S. administration to restore the atmosphere. Then I think we can resume the working-group level and proceed.

Clearly, the need for cooperation grows. We just need to set the players and get the organization going. And we will, I think.