Senate Honors Japanese Aerospace Center for Being First Research User of the Oklahoma Spaceport

Rocketplane's Director of Business Development Charles Lauer and HASTIC officials sign agreement at State Capitol.

Rocketplane's Director of Business Development Charles Lauer shakes hands with Dr. Ryojira and Dr. Kenichi Ito.

Senator Capps, Charles Lauer and Senator Bass speaking during citation presentation in Senate Chamber.

The Hokkaido Aerospace Science Technology Incubation Center (HASTIC) of Japan was recognized today by State Senator Gilmer Capps, D-Snyder, and the Oklahoma State Senate for signing an agreement with Rocketplane Ltd. to become the first commercial microgravity research experiment user of the Oklahoma Spaceport.

"This is a turning point for Oklahoma," said Senator Gilmer Capps, Chairman of the Senate Space Science and Technology Committee "But more than that, this is an important step for the future of commercial space flight and we are thrilled that HASTIC will be joining Rocketplane in this endeavor."

HASTIC intends to conduct space flight research in such areas as genome research, pharmaceutical and drug development, combustion science and materials science. HASTIC will also be collaborating with Rocketplane Ltd. to provide affordable microsatellite launch services through the use of the high performance, low cost CAMUI hybrid rocket motors now being developed in Japan. This international collaborative research activity is expected to begin in 2007 following the successful flight testing on the XP spaceplane.

Several distinguished guests including media outlets from Japan joined Senator Capps for the historical event. Guests included the President of HASTIC and former member of Japan's Science Advisory Council, Dr. Ryojiro Akiba from Tokyo, Japan, and HASTIC Vice President and General Manager Dr. Kenichi Ito from Sapporo, Japan. Oklahoma-native and the first Native American Astronaut, Captain John Herrington helped Senator Capps introduce the Japanese delegation to the Senate. Herrington retired from NASA last year to join Rocketplane as their Chief Pilot and Vice President of Flight Systems.

"These experiments could lead to the development of new drugs and cancer treatments, advanced materials, and more efficient combustion processes," said Herrington during his introductions. "Hokkaido is a worldwide center of excellence for microgravity research applications, and our guests have distinguished themselves in this field over their long careers."

Senator Capps asked Senator Randy Bass, D-Lawton, to present the citation to the HASTIC delegation. Bass spent most of his professional baseball career in Japan and still holds a number of batting records there.
"I have many fond memories from my years playing baseball in Japan," said Bass. "And I am pleased too see that the Oklahoma Spaceport is attracting commercial and scientific users from halfway around the world to come here to fly experiments in space."

Prior to the citation presentation in the Senate Chamber, Rocketplane and HASTIC conducted a signing ceremony at the State Capitol of their initial agreements to begin work on bringing a number of commercial microgravity research experiments from Japan to Oklahoma for suborbital space flights aboard the XP spaceplane. The flights will begin next year and continue through 2010.

Dr. Akiba and Dr. Ito both expressed their gratitude for the warm Oklahoma hospitality and the Senate's recognition of their company's collaboration with Rocketplane.

"The future is in space and we believe that our international cooperation will bring great benefits to both our countries as well as to the State of Oklahoma and our Hokkaido Prefecture," said Dr. Ito during the ceremony. "Commercial microgravity research, space tourism flights and the launch of small satellites into space are all growth markets that will provide lots of business opportunities for Rocketplane, HASTIC and the Oklahoma Spaceport."

Rocketplane Limited, Inc. is an Oklahoma corporation striving to make space travel as safe, convenient and commonplace as air travel. Rocketplane will design and build state-of-the-art reusable spaceplanes, provide unparalleled human training and spaceflight experiences, and transport innovative scientific experiments and valuable payloads to sub-orbital space and beyond.

Rocketplane is currently accepting deposits for customer rides priced at $192,500 with the commercial flights set to coincide with Oklahoma's Centennial Celebration in 2007. Flights will take place in Burns Flat, Oklahoma and the price includes a four day experience of training and flight readiness.

Contact info

Senate Communications Office - (405) 521-5698