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.