Rocketplane investor buys Kistler
Posted: Tue, Feb 28, 2006, 8:09 AM ET (1309 GMT)
The majority owner of suborbital spacecraft developer Rocketplane has purchased Kistler Aerospace, a company that fell on hard times while trying to develop a reusable orbital launch vehicle. George French told Space News that he acquired Kistler for an undisclosed sum and plans to move the company from its current headquarters near Seattle to Oklahoma City, where Rocketplane is headquartered. Kistler raised several hundred million dollars in the 1990s in an effort to develop the K-1, a two-stage RLV. The company, however, ran out of money before completing the vehicle and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2003. Kistler emerged from Chapter 11 in 2005, but when its chief financial backer pulled out in late 2005 the company all but shut down. French, president and CEO of Rocketplane, said the first priority for Kistler is to submit a proposal for commercial ISS transport services to NASA.
The majority owner of suborbital spacecraft developer Rocketplane has purchased Kistler Aerospace, a company that fell on hard times while trying to develop a reusable orbital launch vehicle. George French told Space News that he acquired Kistler for an undisclosed sum and plans to move the company from its current headquarters near Seattle to Oklahoma City, where Rocketplane is headquartered. Kistler raised several hundred million dollars in the 1990s in an effort to develop the K-1, a two-stage RLV. The company, however, ran out of money before completing the vehicle and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2003. Kistler emerged from Chapter 11 in 2005, but when its chief financial backer pulled out in late 2005 the company all but shut down. French, president and CEO of Rocketplane, said the first priority for Kistler is to submit a proposal for commercial ISS transport services to NASA.
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