THE INTERNATIONAL Sea Launch project for commercial geostationary-orbiting satellite-launcher services from an equatorial mobile offshore platform has moved on with the award of $171 million contracts to two Norwegian firms.
Sea Launch, a partnership between Boeing (USA); NPO Energia (Russia); NPO Yuzhnoye (Ukraine); and Kvaerner (Norway); has given Kvaerner the go-ahead to convert a semi-submersible oil rig into a mobile launch platform and to deliver a control-centre support ship. Both orders contain cancellation clauses and depend on Sea Launch securing binding launch contracts.
Source: Flight International
