Vienna, Va. — May 30, 2006 — Space Adventures, Ltd., the world’s leading space experiences company, today announced an agreement to acquire Fountain Valley, Calif.-based Space Launch Corporation.
The acquisition will provide Space Adventures with a technology development capability and access to significant space system intellectual property that will be leveraged to bring to market future space tourism vehicles in the United States.
“While Space Adventures will remain focused on the marketing of spaceflights as a space travel company, the acquisition of Space Launch will enhance our access to, and in-depth knowledge of, cutting-edge aerospace technology,” said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures. “As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Space Adventures, Space Launch will utilize its innovative technology and technical capability to build upon our existing market leadership position.”
“As the leading commercial space experiences company, Space Adventures is a driving force behind private sector space exploration,” said Jacob Lopata, CEO of Space Launch Corporation, who will maintain his title and position, post-acquisition. “It is with great anticipation that we join Space Adventures to develop the technologies and business structures required to open the space frontier to all.”
The Space Launch Corporation was formed in 1999 to develop and bring to market affordable products and services for the small satellite launch industry. Focused primarily on the development of aerospace vehicles, the Space Launch Corporation has spent the past five years working with the U.S. government on new launch systems and their related technologies, successfully executing on contracts exceeding $25 million (USD).
Space Adventures, the only company to have successfully launched private explorers to space, is headquartered in Vienna, Va. with offices in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Moscow and Tokyo. It offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for orbital spaceflight missions to the International Space Station, commercial missions around the moon, Zero-Gravity and jet flights, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecrafts. The company’s advisory board comprises Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, Shuttle astronauts Kathy Thornton, Robert (Hoot) Gibson, Charles Walker, Norm Thagard, Sam Durrance, Byron Lichtenberg, Pierre Thuot and Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott. For more information, please visit www.spaceadventures.com.
