IT may not be as futuristic as the ''beam me up, Scottie'' technol-ogy which has captivated Trekkies for the past 30 years or more, but the idea of launching satellites from the deck of a former North Sea oil platform still catches the imagination.
With the action due to be controlled by a floating ''mission control'' mother- ship, built at Govan on the Clyde, the exciting concept becomes all the more James Bondish.
But, unlike Star Trek and Fleming's novels, the multinational Sea Launch Programme is for real and should see the first of many commercial satellites put into orbit later this year using tried-and-tested Russian and Ukrainian rocket technology.
If successful, and there seems no reason why it should fail, the project will alter the economics of the satellite sector by introducing a safer, cheaper, and more reliable launching system than the existing land-based US, French, and Chinese alternatives.
The concept was conceived initially by Boeing of the US, which had planned to convert a redundant super-tanker for the purpose, an idea that was ditched in favour of the oil platform and mothership idea for safety reasons.
It was the sight of the fire-gutted Ocean Odyssey languishing in a
Norwegian fjord that sparked the change of heart that led to Kvaerner-Govan's involvement in the multi-national project.
Anglo-Norwegian Kvaerner, which has a 20% share in the Sea Launch Programme, was also responsible for modifying the Ocean Odyssey which had been laid up since being devast-ated by fire off Dundee in 1988.
The other partners are Boeing of Seattle, with 40%, KB Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash of the Ukraine, which builds the Zenit rocket which serves as the first two stages of the Sea Launch vehicle (15%), and RSC Energia of Moscow, which will provide the Block DM third stage plus automated launch equipment with 25%. The Zenit has already clocked up 24 successful launches while
the Block DM has made 159 successful flights.
Over the past few months the two huge and unique vessels have been
fitted out with rocket-launching and monitoring systems in the Russian ports of Vyborg, near the Finnish border, and St Petersburg, and are due to set off this week for their ''home base'' at Long Beach, California.
The 200m-long, 32m-wide, 28,000-tonne Clyde-built
mothership, Sea Launch Commander, sails to Long Beach, via the Panama Canal, with the first rockets on board. In addition to a floating rocket assembly factory, she will provide mission-control facilities for commanding launches at sea and cruise liner-style accommodation for 240 crew, customers, and VIPs.
The Odyssey, extensively modified at Kvaerner's Rosenberg yard in
Stavanger, Norway, is one of the world's largest semi-submersible structures with a displacement of 46,000 tonnes submerged.
Too large for the Panama Canal, this self-propelled giant will have to round Cape Horn or go east via the Suez Canal to reach Long Beach.
Blast-off, scheduled to be on October 30, will be on the equator at a site about 1400 miles south-east of Hawaii where the earth's rotation will be used to assist lift-off, boost payload capability, and reduce the need for subsequent adjustments to trajectory.
For maximum safety the Odyssey will be totally unmanned at launch time with all personnel withdrawn to the Sea Launch Commander from where operations will be controlled by a joint US-Russian team with
all instructions in both English
and Russian.
A growing satellite sector has already placed 18 firm orders and 10 options on launches beginning on October 30 with the first of 13 communications' satellite launches booked by the Hughes Corporation.
This level of interest even before the system has been proved is evidence enough that Sea Launch is a much cheaper option than land-based alternatives, although it is difficult to get real figures from the coy participants who will say only that there will be ''significant savings''.
Similarly, they are reluctant to reveal the true cost of the historic project which some observers have put at some $2bn.
But possibly the most surprising and heartening aspect of the whole project is the way that the old super-power enemies have set aside their differences to collaborate in what is a truly commercial venture - as demonstrated by the Cayman Islands registration of the company and Liberian registration of the two vessels.
It is hard to believe that not too long ago they were pointing ICBMs at each other's major cities and that this massive transformation has been arrived at by purely economic reasons and achieved without the assistance of James Bond, Captain Kirk, or even Dr Who.
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