A group of entrepreneurs is heading to Moscow today to negotiate a possible deal to save the Russian space station Mir from being deorbited early next year, according to Rick Tumlinson, president of the Space Frontier Foundation.
Tumlinson tantalized his audience with this information at the Space Frontier Foundation's conference in Los Angeles on Friday. He said the group, which he did not identify, plans to negotiate with RKK Energia, the Russian company that operates the station.
He cited saving the 11-year-old station as an alternative to the International Space Station being constructed. It could be used as a tourist destination and historical site and continued use for experiments and eventually industry.
Currently the station costs about $250 million per year to operate.
"We can dramatically reduce the costs," Tumlinson said. "I wont talk about the technology, but weve proven it."
Although Tumlinson's remarks were incomplete, they were downright forthcoming compared to some of the other panelists scheduled to participate in the "Current Deals" panel at the conference.
Of the dozen potential candidates originally scheduled to sit on the panel, only a few showed up. The others, including one from a major aerospace firm, dropped out because they felt it wouldnt be in their best interest to speak publicly.
Still, a few hardy souls ventured out to speak about how they plan to make money on what many here predict is the coming space boom.
Dennis Wingo, CEO of SkyCorp, was among those who gave out more details of his plan to assemble small satellites on board the International Space Station.
His plan would reduce costs by not having to produce satellites to withstand launch from Earth.
The components would be shipped up via the space shuttle or other means; astronauts aboard the ISS would assemble them and use the airlock to launch them into orbit.
Wingo says this could reduce about 80 percent of the current costs to produce a small satellite. His company plans on producing six satellites for about $9 million.
As part of a barter with NASA, Wingo said the agency would get to keep three, while his company will sell the rest. The agency will deliver the components, assemble the satellites and launch them.
Wingo said he would like to sign an option to build 1,000 satellites in space with telecommunication firms like Teledesic as clients.
He estimates he can save these companies about half of the costs required to place satellites in low-Earth orbit.
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