Starstruck (company)

Starstruck Inc. was a company cofounded by James Bennett and Phil Salin that attempted to perform low-cost orbital rocket launches using experimental, sea-launched hybrid rockets.[1] While a commercial failure, it is an important part of hybrid rocket history,[2] responsible for restarting commercial development of hybrid rockets.[3][4] One of its core leadership was former first Apple CEO Michael Scott. It was based in Redwood City, California.[5][1]

The company folded after three rockets were built and one was successfully launched to suborbital space. Several veterans of Starstruck founded the American Rocket Company (AMROC),[6] which also eventually failed. AMROC's intellectual property was acquired by SpaceDev.

Sources
  1. Jim Schefter. (May 1984) High-tech Rockets on the Cheap. Popular Science

Notes
  1. Cox, Patrick (January 1985). "Space Entrepreneurs". In Poole, Robert W., Jr.; Postrel, Virginia I. (eds.). Free Minds & Free Markets: Twenty-five Years of Reason. San Francisco: Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy (published 1993). p. 52. ISBN 0-936488-72-7. Retrieved 2020-12-09. Phil Salin ... a cofounder of StarStruck, uses this thought experiment to drive home a main point: A dramatic reduction in the cost of getting there is the key to developing space for human use.
  2. Arif Karabeyoglu. (2008, May 09). Hybrid Rocket Propulsion for Future Space Launch. Aero/Astro 50th Year Aniversery. http://aa.stanford.edu/events/50thAnniversary/media/Karabeyoglu.pdf
  3. History of Hybrid Rockets. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2008-10-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Hybrid Rockets". Hawkfeather.com. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  5. June Morrall (March 27, 2007). "Hotels in Outer Space & Phil Salin & the Rocket Co. in RWC". Half Moon Bay Memories. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  6. David P. Gump. (1990). Space Enterprise: Beyond NASA. Praeger Publishers, New York. pp 28-31.

See also

SeaLaunch


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