| 25 May
1997 Spaceport Florida Authority Exec Makes First Public Announcement of Quick Response Launch Capability at National Space Society Conference |
| Contacts: Karen Rugg, National Space Society (407) 354-9840 / 1-800-THE-OMNI (until Tuesday, May 27) 202-543-1900, ext. 77 (as of Wednesday, May 28) Ed O'Connor, Executive Director (Orlando, FL) -- May 25 -- During a presentation given Saturday night at the 16th Annual International Space Development Conference sponsored by the Metro Orlando Chapter of the National Space Society, Spaceport Florida Authority Executive Director Ed O'Connor announced the facility's plan to begin work on a second pad to offer a "quick response" launch capability within six hours of "receiving a phone call." The Authority, which currently maintains one pad from which the Lunar Prospector is scheduled to launch September 24, would design a second pad that is "user-friendly" to three different but popular launch vehicles. The vehicles would be launched to conduct observation or tracking of time-sensitive events, for example, solar flares, natural disasters, or replacement of malfunctioning equipment such as a component on the new Iridium satellite array. Mr. O'Connor was one of several keynote speakers at the five-day conference to address new directions in space commercialization and development. The conference concludes Monday morning with an address from Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL), followed by an NSS Town Meeting. The National Space Society is a nonprofit pro-space advocacy organization with headquarters in Washington, DC. Its 25,000 members and 95 chapters support the creation of a spacefaring civilization. For more information about the NSS and our future in space, visit http://www.nss.org/. ### |
