A.V. AIMS TO LAND SPACECRAFT; LOCAL, STATE OFFICIALS TRY TO GET VENTURESTAR PROGRAM.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Looking to bring a new spacecraft and thousands of jobs to California, state and Antelope Valley officials wooed Lockheed Martin representatives with a helicopter tour of prospective launch sites Thursday and pledged support to make the program a success.

Officials from the state Trade and Commerce Agency and the California Space and Technology Alliance, the state's spaceport authority, took Lockheed Martin representatives on a two-day tour of proposed VentureStar launch sites at Edwards Air Force Base, the dry bed of Harper Lake in San Bernardino County and Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County.

``We think we have it all for you,'' Andrea Seastrand, executive director of the spaceport authority, told company officials. ``We hope you'll take a good look.''

California is among 18 states expected to submit responses to the aerospace company's request for qualifications - the first step in selecting a launch site or sites - by Tuesday's deadline.

``We're excited by all the interest in VentureStar,'' said Jerry Rising, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works vice president for the X-33 and VentureStar program. ``I expect to see a fantastic proposal from the state of California.''

The program will cost $4.5 billion for the construction of an initial fleet of two spacecraft, the building of two spaceports and financing for at least a year of operations, officials said.

A decision on the launch sites is expected to be made in fall 1999. Construction would begin in 2001 and the site would be ready for flights in late 2003.

``We have a ton of technical hurdles,'' Rising said. ``We have a ton of financial hurdles. That's why we need help. The next step is not funded by the government.''

Lancaster officials meet with Lockheed Martin representatives Wednesday night at Edwards for a dinner and informal discussion on the proposed sites. They gathered again for a lunch meeting Thursday.

Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts described the meetings as positive, saying, ``I think we're going to get it, but there is a lot of work to do.''

The requirements for the spacecraft include a runway of 300 feet by 15,000 feet; 3,000 to 4,000 acres, preferably flat, clear terrain capable of holding heavy loads; buildings for vehicle processing; and accessibility to roads and railroad line spurs.

Lancaster's idea is to use an area of more than 3,000 acres on the south side of Edwards Air Force Base and just outside Edwards' boundary as the VentureStar base.

Edwards already meets some of the spacecraft's requirements. It has a 15,000-foot concrete runway plus more than 60 miles of marked and maintained runways on the Rogers and Rosamond dry lake beds. The base also covers 301,000 acres, with only a fraction of it developed.

Lancaster will work to make VentureStar commercially viable and provides an area that is aerospace-savvy, City Manager Jim Gilley told Lockheed Martin officials Wednesday.

``You have an opportunity to deal with an area that understands what you are talking about,'' Gilley said. ``Because we understand what you are talking about, we're able to help you work through the hurdles when you don't have time for translation.''

To help lower the program's costs, Lancaster officials are trying to get the area designated as a foreign trade zone, which would offer relief on customs duties for items imported into the area.

The city also is working to have the area included in the Antelope Valley's enterprise zone, which would offer state tax credits on equipment purchases and wages for workers hired through certain programs or from certain areas in the region.

Lockheed Martin wants to perform the final assembly on the spacecraft at a location three to five miles from the launch site. That work will provide more than 2,000 jobs.

A work force of 500 to 1,000 would be responsible for preparing VentureStar for launch, processing payloads, planning missions and doing engineering support.

The goal is to cut the cost of putting a payload into space from $10,000 a pound to less than $1,000. By reducing the logistics, manpower and time to prepare for flight, VentureStar will be able to fly more frequently and less expensively.

The dramatic lowering of the cost of getting payloads into orbit will open up commercial opportunities the way the invention of the airplane did, program officials and supporters say. Those opportunities involve delivering communication satellites into orbit, fostering the construction of private space stations for research and manufacturing, and even paving the way for space tourism and future exploration of the solar system.

VentureStar will take off vertically, but will not shed any of its parts during launch like a space shuttle, and will land like an airplane.

Skunk Works officials envision the VentureStar being prepared for launch in a matter of two to seven days after completing a mission, rather than several weeks, such as with a space shuttle.

Lockheed Martin envisions a fleet of three VentureStar spacecraft. The company expects to be able to perform 35 to 40 launches a year, instead of eight or nine as with the space shuttle.

When VentureStar does begin to fly, its first customer will be the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Plans call for VentureStar to bring supplies to the international space station.

Eventually, the spacecraft's customer base will be split about 50-50 between flights for NASA and private customers, officials say.

CAPTION(S):

Map

MAP: Proposed VentureStar Launch Sites