Sea Launch, the international
launch services company with its Home Port based in Long Beach, Calif.,
announced plans today to move the company offices from the Cayman Islands to
downtown Long Beach.
“The move will enable us to co-locate both the partnership and the Home
Port business and technology initiatives,” said Will Trafton, president of Sea
Launch. “We established our Home Port in Long Beach Harbor in 1996 and now we
are successfully operating out of these facilities. Our partners recently
voted unanimously to move the management of the business to Long Beach to
become more effective and efficient.
We find this environment very conducive
for conducting and developing business both locally and globally.”
Sea Launch plans to begin occupancy in Long Beach in the third quarter
with about 30 people working in the new Long Beach offices.
Depending on the
particular requirements of the launch schedule, there are approximately
100-400 people working at the Home Port, including employees from partner
companies:
Boeing (U.S.), RSC Energia (Russia), KB Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash
(Ukraine) and the Anglo-Norwegian Kvaerner Group (Norway).
“The transition of Sea Launch’s world headquarters from the Cayman Islands
to Long Beach further identifies our community as the center of a growing
technology sector that includes a burgeoning number of space-based
businesses,” said Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill.
“The economic impact on
Long Beach will be significant and reinforces the decision we made to build a
future based on tourism, international trade and technology.”
The Sea Launch Home Port facilities cover 16.5 acres on the Navy Mole in
Long Beach Harbor, housing offices, warehouses, a payload processing facility
and a pier that is home to two ocean-going vessels — Sea Launch Commander, a
command and assembly ship, and the Odyssey Launch Platform.
Sea Launch receives customer satellites at the customized dockside
facilities.
Following the completion of fueling and encapsulation in the
state-of-the-art payload processing facility, the integrated payload unit is
transferred to the assembly & command ship for integration with the launch
vehicle.
While at Home Port, the horizontally integrated rocket is then
transferred to the launch platform, where it is stored in an environmentally
controlled hangar during transit to the equator.
Approximately a week before launch, Sea Launch takes the two vessels to
the launch site at the equator, at 154 degrees West Longitude.
The equatorial
launch site provides the most direct route to orbit, offering customers
maximum lift capacity for increased payload mass or extended spacecraft life.
The commercial communication satellites are then launched into orbit from the
marine-based operations, which reduce launch infrastructure and minimize
operational cost.
For more information about the Sea Launch program visit the website at:
www.sea-launch.com.
