Time for Private Space is Here

Finally, time is right come for Private Space. No more dependence just on NASA and governments to open the doors for “Private Space for Everyone”™. New private space entrepreneurs and companies are already involved in that now.  We at newly formed International Space Systems (ISS) from Orlando, Florida are here to create, promote, market such innovative private space projects and assist others in their Private Space projects and efforts. We also plan to initiate and implement our own private space projects that you, the average citizen, will be able to be part of via our innovative Private Space Mission Passes or by becoming a member of our Private Space Club.

I know such feeling of involvement in a private space venture well. I have a memory of it how it felt in 1982 when I was involved in the formation of a private space company.   I was amazed when I formed International Space Corp (ISC) then to grow expensive electronic crystals in zero gravity with our Normal Freezing Space Furnace, how many individual private investors I was able to find (59), average people from all sectors of life, who invested in ISC because they wanted to be involved in Private Space already then!! 

It was not only about money or returns, it was a lot about the opportunity to be involved in private space research and touch that final frontier of knowledge and technological success with their own private money. That challenge and opportunity was worth all of risk to them. And the risks were for real – the Challenger accident and NASA’s subsequent decision to cancel all commercial missions-projects requiring the Shuttle caused the end of operations for ISC.

Today the impetus to explore space with private means is stronger than ever. We have all followed the frustrations and disappointments with outdated Shuttle technology and lack of creative and innovative leaderships in government funded space. Now is the time to truly challenge this final frontier privately including with manned space missions. No human endeavor has become successful without change and innovation. Private enterprise is the key to opening public access to space.

Millions want to be part of the exploration of the last frontier if a way could be found for them to do so and we at ISS and Private Space Club are here to let them in. We will show them a way to contribute directly to projects and programs in Private Space and they will be part of our space missions via our Private Space Mission Passes and by choosing which space project we have they want to be involved in.

Scaled Composites and with the first Private Manned Space Mission completed successfully on June 21, 2004 with their SpaceShipOne, the initial doors of “Private Space for Everyone”™ have finally opened.  That could not have happened with Shuttle missions where prior to the Columbia accident each Shuttle mission cost on an average $600 million per flight and took years to plan and implement. SpaceShipOne, as designed by the brilliant Burt Rutan and funded by Paul Allen is the new model for private space exploration costing much, much less.

Such simple, practical and low cost designs and approaches will also bring the most profitable aspects of Private Space into reality – tourism. Thousands want to experience physically flying into space or Zero-G. Thousands are ready to spend their money for this purpose. Thousands will be able to afford it for the first time in human history.

I never understood NASA’s resistance to developing space tourism or allowing for souvenir type space commercialism to develop. Burt Rutan and his team for years have proven that being different is possible, accomplishing what many believed to be the impossible! Many is the key word in eventual success of commercial space. The same process laid the foundation for commercial aviation took off – many airplanes, many flights, many destinations and many passengers.

We (ISS) are ready to bring Private Space to many. Over 30 million individual users logged on to NASA JPL site to watch-track Spirit and Opportunity land and explore Mars. Over 4 billion Web site hits occurred in the first two weeks!  NASA’s double spacecraft mission to Mars cost around $800 million. Private enterprise could probably do the same for around $500 million. That is only $100 per person if just 1/6 of the people that logged on to NASA’s site contributed. In return for what? In return for exclusive password-enabled Internet access to the Sapce Mission Web Site with pictures, videos, downlinks, and updates from the mission to Mars and a certificate you were part of it.

Scale back to the Moon. Scale back to a Moon mission that would cost $100 million instead or about six times less. Have a couple of robots similar to Spirit and Opportunity land and explore the Moon. We have not gone to the moon for over 30 years and it is right next door to our Planet Earth.  We have just such missions planned – Lunaland-1 with a robotic rover Lander and Lunaorb-1 – a Lunar Orbiter taking pictures and other data of the surface of the moon and serving as a communicator with the Lunaland-1 Rover and many other such Lunar rovers we plan to send to the Moon.

Scale back from 30 million to just 1 million people paying $100 dollars for their Private Space Mission Pass to achieve this goal of landing Lunaland-1 on the Moon and have exclusive access to the www.lunaland1.com and www.lunaorb1.com Web sites with pictures, videos and other images from such completely privately funded moon rovers. Add sales of merchandise, rights to other TV stations and media and it becomes a totally privately funded space mission launched from the Cape Canaveral on an American Delta or Atlas modern rocket and with state of the art technology incorporated in robotic and tracking design.  Even launch insurance is included up to the burning of the upper stage.

You, the average reader – a person living in the Untied States, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, India, Japan, Mexico, Canada and many other countries around the world will be the principal user and contributor. Every day-week-mission you will feel you are part of development of Private Space.  Conquest of space will free itself from slow and governmental space agencies. 

We also offer memberships to our Private Space Club (www.privatespaceclub.com) entitling members to many discounts on variety of space related merchandise purchases, was well as partial private space missions access, with information not available anywhere else at just $9.95/month and you also get an email associated with our Private Space Club, Forums, Private Space Chat Rooms, Phone Rooms, Conference Rooms, etc.  We expect members of Private Space Club will be the core supporters of our Private Space effort funding annually 2-3 private space missions with purchases of $100 or $200 Private Space Mission Passes.   We expect 1 million Private Space Club members within a year, 3 million within two years and 5-10 million within three years.   

We also plan to organize in Orlando, the World capital of theme parks, a bus tour – GRAVITY™ Tours - taking tourists and those interested to only those rides at various attractions in Orlando that produce gravity or Zero-G sensations. We are also working on F-15 or similar super jet flights taking off from Florida’s Space Coast to the most extreme heights where curvature of Earth and darkness of sky above you is visible (not to mention the experience of a few real Gs and Zero-Gs in the process).

Do you want to experience Zero-G already today?  Well you can via ZERO-G Flights – once or twice a month we can take you on the Zero-G Plane and put you through a series of parabolic flight patterns and give you 30-40 seconds of zero gravity or Moon Gravity or Martian Gravity.  The ZERO-G Experience is a day-long program in Ft/ Lauderdale, Florida during which you will be inspired by hearing firsthand what space is like and about the uses of Weightless Flight directly from a veteran astronaut. You will also learn how to maximize your time in zero gravity and officially become Weightless Certified.

We are also working on our own suborbital space plane called Private Space Plane - 1 or PSP-1 to take to the skies of Florida’s Space Coast on top of a Boeing 747 carrying additional 400 people to 40,000 ft to witness each PSP-1 suborbital flight mission. Our PSP-1 will carry 3-4 people to suborbital heights of around 62 miles (100 km) for a 15 min experience of zero gravity and breathless view of planet Earth below. In difference to SpaceShipOne and Shuttle orbiter which both glide back to Earth with no power our PSP-1 will have two small jet engines for lower atmosphere powered and more controlled flight back to Earth.  We will also offer $200 Private Space mission Passes for PSP-1 where for each 1,000 purchases of such passes one person-passenger will be selected at random to fly on PSP-1.

One day we hope to be part of larger scale space ships or space planes taking people to low earth orbit for longer flights or stays in space.  One day we hope to be part of launching and assembling modules of the same kind today’s space station is made of but instead meant to be for tourists only and as a space hotel. We are already working on components needed from current existing expandable rockets and Shuttle technology to create manned orbital missions (paying customers) to the Moon.  This is not just a dream any more – it can be reality in a much shorter time than we have dreamed possible before.

We are also planning a formation and operation of a SPACE TV Channel to present in a much more exciting way coverage of various private space projects and space science. NASA’s space channel does not fully seize on the excitement and public appeal of space travel and research. We will cover all private space projects and missions, especially live events and mix that with related entertainment and choice of movies.

So very soon you will be able to join us in our Private Space endeavor. We are currently in the process of setting initial operations up here in Orlando, Florida.

We welcome you to new Private Space!! We welcome you to “Private Space for Everyone”™

Drazen E. Premate
President & CEO
International Space Systems, Inc