DAVIS, California USA — A history-making space flight is scheduled for launch on Saturday, May 22, 1999 from the Black Rock desert in Northwestern Nevada.

JP Aerospace, an amateur aerospace organization located in Sacramento, California will attempt to make aerospace history by launching the first amateur rocket into space. This will be accomplished by lofting a launch system to an altitude of 100,000 feet by balloon.

The rocket will then be launched to an altitude of approximately 60 miles, providing telemetry and GPS positioning, with full recovery expected upon return. This system has its roots in the very successful Rockoon, BATO and Farside balloon/rocket programs carried out in New Mexico and the Arctic.

The rocket for this mission has been christened the “Spirit Of Freedom 7” in honor of the first American in space, Alan B. Shepard Jr., and the rocket that carried him there.

JP Aerospace is an innovative, amateur aerospace organization dedicated to providing cheap access to space using existing technologies and off-the-shelf materials. Based in Davis, California, the 20 year-old organization consists of members who represent a wide variety of backgrounds, from former aerospace engineers and a physicist to computer programmers. Further information is available on the world wide web at http://jpaerospace.com.

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Fact Sheet

Mission: Dubbed “America’s OTHER Space Program”, JP Aerospace wants to be the first amateur organization to place a payload into space.

Current Project: Project Space Flight: To launch a rocket with a scientific payload to an altitude of 50 miles. This will be accomplished by lofting a launch system to an altitude of 100,000 feet by balloon, where the rocket will be launched to an altitude of approximately 60 miles.

Date of launch: May 22/23, 1999
Alternate Date: June 12/13, 1999

Website: www.jpaerospace.com

Contact:

John Powell
President
JP Aerospace
2636 Temple Drive
Davis, CA 95616
Tel: (530) 757-1808
Fax: (530) 757-1808
Email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Rocket:

Length: 88 inches
Diameter: 3 inches
Weight: 17 lbs
Material:
Nose cone: Carbon Fiber
Airframe: Phenolic (Paper and epoxy)
Fins (4): Laminated aircraft plywood and Kevlar
(like in bullet proof vests)
Max. Velocity: Mach 3.7

Length: 26 inches
Weight: 9.75 pounds
Burn Time: 5 seconds

Length: 96 inches
Width: 10 inches
Material: Foam board
Weight: 25 pounds
Systems: Live Video Downlink
GPS Tracking
Three flight computers
Full two way telemetry/control
Radio Beacon
Parachute

JP Aerospace is an amateur group and nearly all of it’s members are Ham radio operators. Amateur radio equipment is used extensively in the vehicle to ground communication.

Balloons:

10 research weather balloons, nine pounds of lift each. Length from bottom of the launch platform to the top of the balloon stack: 610 feet

The rocket in carried inside the launch platform. The launch platform is lifted by ten helium filled weather balloons to 100,000 feet. The climb to 100,000 feet takes approximately 90 minutes. The systems are monitored by a mission control team on the ground and the command to launch the rocket is sent. The motor burns for five seconds accelerating the rocket to Mach 3.7. The rocket then coasts to an altitude of 60 miles (320,000 feet). Space officially begins at 57.5 miles. A parachute deploys and the rocket decends to Earth.

A printed press kit is available. Please contact JP Aerospace for a copy.