 |
Home
Project List
-Innovation Support
-Industrial Rejuvenation
-Talent Development
WIRED Participants
WIRED Deliverables
Search IC.net
-Success Stories
-Collaboration Search
Media
WIRED on the Web
Resources
Contact
WIRED Program
Lead
|
|
Garvey Spacecraft Corporation (GSC), project lead on Space-Related University Programs (3.3), collaborated with California State University Long Beach (CSULB) to launch the 20-foot tall Prospector 8 (P-8) rocket containing several academic research payloads. The launch, which took place in the Mojave Desert, additionally provided the means for testing a new engine that the GSC/CSULB team had been developing for over a year. The P-8 was designed and built as a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) through the joint efforts of GSC in Long Beach, CA and the CSULB Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, with funding support for this launch provided by the WIRED Department of Labor (DoL) grant administered by the California Space Authority (CSA), also a Corridor partner. GSC and CSULB have been working together since 2001 through the California Launch Vehicle Education Initiative (CALVEIN), and have designed, built and operated over a dozen prototype launch systems. The benefit of this cross-sector approach is evidenced by the development of the P-8, which was completed after just months instead of the years that are more typical of flight projects. In addition, the experience gained from participation in launch activities provides the CSULB students with a competitive career preparation advantage over their peers across the country. Lessons learned from the P-8 launch are now being applied to the development of the Prospector 9 prototype RLV.
"The WIRED support has been very helpful in that CSA and DoL are comfortable in letting us push the test envelope farther than we might have otherwise done on some of our other projects," says GSC's founder, John Garvey. "There's more risk that way, but it also has the potential for bigger pay-offs. It also means the students are able to participate directly in the first flight test of a new engine that is three times more powerful than our previous ones."
|
|
|
 |
 |
  |
|
