‘Star wars’ role for sea giant

Press, 3 February 1987, Page 17

‘Star wars’ role for sea giant

MARTIN BAILEY

of the London “Observer” reveals a S3OO 4 — —J- .2.— — I— i ~ —— TT —2 •i- -7S la r* «* 1

million British project too big for the United States to handle.

A British company is planning to launch "star wars” space rockets from a “super-ship” which would be moored off a Pacific island.

The ship, more than 400 metres long, would probably be the world’s largest vessel and may be built at Harland and Wolff’s yard in Belfast. The firm is C.S.I. North Venture, Ltd, which has teamed up with three major American corporations in the hope of winning a military contract for “star wars” satellites. Christmas Island, the former nuclear test site in the Pacific, is the favoured location for the launches. It lies close to the Equator, from where rockets can carry a heavier payload than those launched elsewhere. The London-based C.S.I. North Venture was set up in 1985 by Alex Copson, a 34-year-old North Sea diver turned inventor who has worked in the oil industry.

“It may seem strange that a British company is involved in providing a rocket launch service but the vessel is likely to be built here,” Mr Copson says. A British space consultant, Dr Geoffrey Pardoe, believes a seabased rocket launcher will be a winner.

“Because the Earth’s spin is at its maximum at the Equator, a rocket launched there can carry a heavier payload. This means that a satellite launched from the Equator can be 15 per cent heavier than one sent up from Cape Kennedy. This, becomes increasingly important as satellites become more complex.” For political reasons, the only equatorial sites which remain under American or British control are remote islands where it

would be extremely expensive to establish a land-based space centre. Dr Pardoe believes a mobile launch pad is the answer. “The specially designed ship would pick up the rocket from the manufacturer in America and then sail down to a calm area off a Pacific Island. If the ship is large enough, the thrust of the

rocket would not prove a problem.”

C.S.I. North Venture has now completed a feasibility study for the rocket-launching ship along with its three American partners. They include two rocket companies —- McDonnell Douglas, which makes the Delta rocket, and Martin Marietta, manufacturer of the Titan. Philadelphia-

based General Electric, which builds satellites, is the third partner.

The ship will have a hull design similar to that of a supertanker, but there will also be a 73-metre high tower in the middle of the vessel to hold the rocket. The ship will weigh more than 500,000 tonnes and may well be larger than the world’s biggest ship, the 565,000-tonne Seawise Giant supertanker. No American shipyard has the capacity to build a vessel of this size. Mr Copson is now negotiating with Harland and Wolff. If the contract is signed it will provide hundreds of jobs for the Belfast yard.

Mr Copson is arranging finance for the project. He refuses to reveal the amount required but it could well exceed S3OO million. “We hope to begin construction of the ship next year, and the system could be operational by 1990,” he adds.

Eight islands are now under investigation, with Christmas Island the front-runner. Christmas Island — population 350 — is now part of independent Kiribati, a Commonwealth member which has until recently been claimed by the United States, and was used for both British and American nuclear tests.

C.S.I. North Venture plans to lease the rocket-launching ship to one of its American partners under a 10-year agreement. The vessel would handle six launches a year.

Martin Marietta and McDonnell Douglas both confirmed that they are co-developers with C.S.I. North Venture. “We worked with them on the feasibility study to investigate the possibility of launching our Titan rockets. Negotiations are continuing although no formal agreement has yet been reached,” a Martin Marietta spokesman says. General Electric, which makes both civilian and military satellites, also participated in the feasibility study. If the Strategic Defence Initia-

tive, or “star wars,” programme goes ahead, the United States would probably launch up to 30 satellites during the early 19905. They would carry infra-red sensors to detect missiles. Mr Copson admits that military satellites will be an important sector of the market for the C.S.I. North Venture service. “We are not interested in the nature of the payload, and we will be working for both civilian and military customers. Our American co-developers are in close touch with the Pentagon over their military requirements.