Say Hello To BSC

Jim Benson, the founder of SpaceDev, wants to start a new company. It's called Benson Space Company, or BSC.

Benson announced Thursday he'll step down and chairman and chief technology officer of SpaceDev, in order to pursue a new venture in an emerging commercial space tourism industry. "I am dedicated to opening space for all of humanity and, with SpaceDev well-managed and growing, I plan to spend the next several years creating the possibility that anyone who wants to go to space will be able to, safely and affordably," he said.

Benson says BSC has first-round financing lined up, and has asked SpaceDev for a proposal to develop a new spaceship -- called the SpaceDev Dream Chaser -- to send wanna-be astronauts into space. The vehicle is based on the NASA Langley Research Center's ten passenger orbital HL-20; the HL-20, in turn, was based on the Russian BOR-4 orbital autonomous re-entry vehicle, which was once intended to be the basis of the Soviet Union's manned space program.

SpaceDev owns many of the patents and intellectual property rights associated with hybrid rocket motors. Under Benson's guidance, SpaceDev developed critical hybrid rocket motor technology and furnished all of the rocket motors for Paul Allen's SpaceShipOne... the craft that earned the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004.

"My biggest challenges over the next few months will be evaluating SpaceDev's response to our proposal request, negotiating the contract for the development of our first spaceships, and completing second-round financing for this new venture," said Benson.

With the expectation that personal spaceflight will grow into a multibillion dollar industry, Benson intends for BSC to be first-to-market with a spaceship designed for suborbital, and eventually orbital, flights. He predicts it will also be used to transport people and cargo to the International Space Station and to a variety of emerging private sector orbital destinations.

"I am very proud of what has been accomplished at SpaceDev," said Benson. "The SpaceDev team has grown to over 200 employees in three states. SpaceDev designed and built a satellite for NASA, its rocket motor technology propelled civilians to suborbital space, and SpaceDev has provided mechanisms to over 200 space missions. The company continues to secure exciting new contracts for the design and development of high-performance, lower-cost, advanced space technologies."

"The 'Second Space Age' is here, and a new race to space is on!" he added.

Benson will remain a member of SpaceDev's board of directors. He and his family continue to own the largest amount of SpaceDev stock, approximately one-third of the issued and outstanding shares.

Benson is the founder of Compusearch, which he ran for eleven years before selling the company in 1995. He founded SpaceDev in 1997, and is also a founding director of the Personal Spaceflight Federation -- a trade association representing the emerging new personal spaceflight industry.

FMI: www.bensonspace.com