Beal deal has safeguards against sell out to Venezuelan interests
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Beal deal has safeguards against sell out to Venezuelan interests
- Hinds
Slams talk show distortions
Stabroek News
June 2, 2000
The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) yesterday dismissed seven claims being made regarding the Beal Agreement while noting that it contains safeguards against a possible sell out to Venezuelan interests.
The statement underscored that Beal cannot sell the land purchased for the Launch Facility without the approval of Guyana and cannot assign the rights to operate the spaceport without such approval.
In fact, the statement noted, Beal is strictly forbidden under US law governing the export of the technology used by the firm at the Launch Facility from transferring the use of the technology.
The Beal Agreement, the statement said, "has become the topic of a number of television 'talk shows' where many uninformed and publicly misleading statements are being made regarding the agreement."
According to the statement, it is misleading to claim that liitle is known about the Beal Aerospace rocket and that it is only in its experimental stage and is unrecognised. Beal has built and has already successfully test fired the largest liquid rocket engine built since the Apollo programme of the 1960s, the statement said. The programme started in 1997 to build a lighter, more reliable, space vehicle to launch international satellites.
Its propellant, hydrogen peroxide and kerosene, is safer than other propellant-driven rockets and is environmentally friendly, Prime Minister Sam Hinds statement added. Kerosene is used to fuel every major commercial jet aircraft. No nuclear components are involved.
The OPM noted that Forbes Magazine, April 17th, 2000, had reported on the most recent test firing of the second stage of the three-stage rocket planned for its first launch at Cape Canaveral in 2002. The rocket development is a US$500M investment.
In the Forbes Magazine report, Robert Bruce, Chief of New Business for Propulsion Test at NASA's Space Centre in St Louis, described the test as "a very serious milestone" and Beal as "a serious front line competitor."
And Edward Ellegood, Director of Policy and Programme Development at the Spaceport Florida Authority, said that the Beal rocket "has a really good chance at turning the industry on its ear."
Citing the claim that the Beal Space Launch Facility will be used for US military purposes, the statement said that the Beal Agreement is specifically defined as providing only for the operation of a 'Commercial Space Launch Facility'. The facility is insured specifically under the terms and conditions required by the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation of the US Federal Aviation Administration governed by the US Code of Federal Regulations for commercial satellite launching only.
The Beal Agreement, the statement added, cannot be concluded until after the firm receives the formal written notification from the US Department of State approving construction of the spaceport in Guyana and for the export of items governed under the US Arms Export Control Act. This Act specifically forbids the export from the US of any goods, technology and technical data which is intended to be used for military purposes.
Another misrepresentation, according to the statement, is that Beal Aerospace could hugely profit by assigning or selling the rights to utilise the Launch Facility to some other company in the space launch business without benefit to Guyana. However, the firm is expressly forbidden under the agreement from assigning any of its rights contained within the agreement without the express written consent of Guyana, Hinds pointed out. Beal may assign rights only to its affiliates, subsidiaries, successors or parent companies.
The statement rebutted the claim that a failed rocket launch or explosion at the Launch Site could result in irrevocable damage or harm to the surrounding area and population. It was pointed out that the buffer area of 75,000 acres in the shape of a circle with a radius of 10 miles around the Primary Launching Site is precisely intended to protect against harm being done to the surrounding population. The flight path of the launch is over the ocean. The design of the Beal rocket, using exceptionally safe fuels, avoids the danger of environmental pollution and significantly reduces the possibility of an explosive accident.
The agreement specifically provides that in the event of its termination Beal must remove all hazardous materials, the statement asserted in disclaiming that the firm can terminate its agreement and walk away from the Launch Site leaving an active environmental disaster behind.
Prior to the construction of the spaceport, Beal must conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment for approval under Guyana's Environmental Protection Act. The Environmental Protection Agency's approval, as is the case with Omai Gold Mines Limited, will require restoration of any environmental damage done by the spaceport should the operation be terminated. The agreement also provides for the firm's liability to a maximum amount of US$25M for environmental-related incidents or accidents.
The OPM statement debunked the claim that the nature of the satellite launching business will result in Beal making huge profits with Guyana receiving a few paltry dollars in return.
Spaceports involve a multi-million-dollar investment costing huge amounts to construct and operate, the statement noted. Of the 18 spaceports in the world, all are state-owned and none is known to have declared a significant profit.
Kourou in French Guiana cost billions of dollars to construct. Alcantara in Brazil involves an investment of approximately US$500M so far.
Beal estimates construction and installation costs of about US$300M. Unlike French Guiana and Brazil or any other country's spaceport, the entire cost and the risk is made and taken by the firm. Guyana gets a spaceport without any investment risk and receives a guaranteed revenue, the statement contended.
Commercial space launch companies which launch satellites and do not own the spaceports traditionally make the profits, not spaceports. Beal Aerospace plans to profit eventually from the manufacture of its new space age rocket and the operation of its space launch company.
The statement noted further that the Beal Agreement guarantees a payment of as much as US$2M per year to Guyana for the use of the spaceport based on the number of launches without the country investing a single dollar. If the firm's commercial launch business and/or the spaceport business operates at a loss, the country still gets paid.
The space launch business is a highly competitive one with competition growing, the statement pointed out. It noted that five new spaceports in the Asia/Pacific area are in the development planning stage, including in Australia.
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