Garvey Spacecraft Corporation (GSC) has announced its selection of Alaska Aerospace Corporation's Pacific Spaceport Complex - Alaska (PSCA) on Kodiak Island as host range for the next phase of the company's Nanosat Launch Vehicle (NLV) flight test program.

Initial efforts will be conducted through a recently awarded NASA Small Business Technology Transfer project in which GSC is teamed with the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The NLV is a small launch vehicle focused on providing launches for commercial space companies.

According to GSC's program manager Chris Bostwick, the company has focused on the Kodiak facility in part because "... its location enables routine access to polar orbit - a capability that is not commonly available with existing launch options for the emerging cubesat and nanosat markets." Mr. Bostwick added that equally significant is AAC's flexibility in working with the GSC/UAF team as it evaluates alternative concepts of operations.

Such new approaches are deemed to be critical to achieving the cost targets as well as schedule and performance requirements that are being demanded by small sat launch customers. The company plans to continue static fire and low-altitude flight testing at an existing site outside of Mojave, CA, with PSCA serving as the base of operations for high performance suborbital flight testing and ultimately the operational orbital missions.

Initial pathfinder operations addressing logistics and ground operations at Kodiak are anticipated to get underway this summer. UAF contributions will leverage the university's experiences and insights as the operator for NASA of the Poker Flat Research Range for sounding rockets outside of Fairbanks. The results will then be used to refine plans for subsequent suborbital flight tests featuring existing NLV test stages.

"We are delighted that Garvey Spacecraft Corporation has chosen PSCA for this phase of their program. It speaks well to our unique geographical location, combined with our approach to commercial space," Craig Campbell, President and CEO of AAC, said.

AAC is a state-owned corporation established to develop a high-technology aerospace industry in the state. AAC owns and operates the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska and is the worldwide distributor for RapidEye multispectral imagery of Alaska. Its corporate offices are in Anchorage, Alaska.