Rocketry Planet

Dr. Frank Kosdon (right) with Derrick Deville, former TRA BOD member.

WORLD WIDE WEB — In an early morning communication which was reposted to other hobby rocketry mailing lists with permission, Paul Holmes, chairman of the Tripoli Rocketry Association's motor testing committee announced that Tripoli has reinstated Dr. Franklin Kosdon as a Tripoli Certified Motor Manufacturer.

Basing the decision on the recent court decision that removed ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) from the list of federally restricted low explosives, the announcement stated that manufacturers of APCP rocket fuel no longer need a low explosives manufacturing permit issued by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"Due to the recent court decision being upheld on the status of APCP and manufacturers no longer needing Low Explosives Manufacturing Permit (LEMP) licensing, Mr. Kosdon, again meets the minimum requirements to be considered a manufacturer in the eyes of this office," Holmes stated in the recirculated posting. "To that end, I submitted a motion to the TRA BOD for his reinstatement which passed as of 20 May 2009."

Plans call for Kosdon and Holmes to exchange a list of motors he will be offering for sale in the near future, with the ultimate plan being to re-release his entire motor line from 2001. The list will be compared against his previous certified motor list, and once confirmed, motors from the list will be allowed to be sold and flown by Tripoli members immediately. Within one year, Kosdon must submit the listed motors for recertification testing, comparing the output to the original test data.  Failure to resubmit the motors from the list for testing could result in the decertification of those motors.

"This action is deemed appropriate due to the excellent past history of these motors and periodic monitoring of his research work over the last eight years to insure he has maintained consistent standards," Holmes said in the posting. "In addition, once the agreed list is posted by this office, any past stores of these motors WILL be allowed to be flown." Holmes went on to clarify that no legacy Kosdon motors are to be flown until TMT makes an announcement.

MIT "The Tech" article from October 25, 1961 about safe rocket propellant.

Dr. Kosdon is considered a propulsion pioneer of today's high-power rocket motors.  A Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni, Dr. Kosdon's work was lauded in the October 25, 1961 issue of MIT's "The Tech" student newspaper, in an article announcing Dr. Kosdon and Harvard student Ronald Winston's winning a $1000 award offered by the MIT Rocket Research Society.  The pair won an award for submitting a research paper they wrote together called "Experimental Development of an Isocyanate Solid Propellant," describing a safe propellant formula for amateur rocket use.

Dr. Kosdon's Tripoli membership was suspended in March of 2002 for several claims, including breaking an agreement not to sell motors at TRA launch sites until he became "legal," the result of the then federal necessity of an LEMP, and various applications of California state law.  This suspension took place after Dr. Kosdon had announced his candidacy for the TRA board but before the election. Dr. Kosdon addressed these claims at length in his response.

With the federal burden of licensing removed, Dr. Kosdon's reinstatement by Tripoli will allow the popular Kosdon motors to once again roar at launch sites across the country. And, while the question of a federal LEMP seems to have been answered, it remains to be seen whether other NFPA requirements will be demanded.