Project Could Thrust Idaho Into Space Age Spaceport Backers To Discuss Satellite Launches From Ineel

Backers of a spaceport for eastern Idaho will participate in a get-acquainted session with representatives of the corporations that could make such a project possible.

Officials from the state of Idaho and Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Co. have been talking about turning 44 acres at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory into a launch site for medium-sized rockets.

Idaho’s initial interest was in landing the VentureStar program, a reusable space plane scheduled to replace the space shuttle in the next 10 years. But the region’s attributes - high elevation, its latitude, sparse population and low air traffic - convinced them they might do something even if VentureStar turned out to be a less-than-sure thing.

With the telecommunications explosion, encompassing everything from cellular phones to Internet service, there are thousands of satellites scheduled for launch in the years to come. But there’s a worldwide shortage of launch pads and anyone who wants to launch a satellite into space is looking at a wait of two to three years, said Steve Winston a Lockheed Martin Idaho vice president who helped coordinate this week’s meeting.

He said state and Lockheed officials will meet this week with executives from large companies involved in construction, liquid fuel, rocket design and venture capital.

There is talk the Regional Development Alliance would provide seed money and own the startup company that would manage the project, Winston said. The Alliance administers $30 million from the settlement between Idaho and the federal government over spent nuclear fuel shipments to the INEEL.

Alliance chairman Blake Hall will be at the meeting, as well as state officials, but Winston said it’s too early to get more community representatives involved.

He likened the meeting to a second date. “You don’t invite everybody on your dates,” he said. “We haven’t even kissed good night. Who knows whether romance will build?”

If things move forward the licensing process, including the environmental impact statement, will be supervised by the Federal Aviation Administration. A decision could come within a year, because the FAA doesn’t require a study that contemplates every possible effect a spaceport might create, Winston said.