Golden Spike Company

History

The company was formally announced at a press conference held on December 6, 2012, at the National Press Club, wherein details of the company and its ambitions were presented.{{cite web | access-date = 2012-12-06

Golden Spike was founded in 2010 by Alan Stern, former NASA associate administrator for science (2007-2008), and Gerry Griffin, former NASA Johnson Space Center Director. Griffin was the initial chairman of the board.{{cite news | access-date = 2012-12-11 |access-date = 2013-01-17 |archive-date = 2013-01-09 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130109164813/http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/06/15731458-golden-spike-space-venture-wants-to-fly-you-to-the-moon-for-14-billion |url-status = bot: unknown

Plans and resources

Company President/CEO Alan Stern announced in briefing papers that the company had commenced feasibility studies into commercial missions to the Moon from early 2010 and formed the company in the third quarter of that year. Since then, the company had been building its business models and soliciting investment. The company had budgeted between $7 and $8 billion to achieve their objective, followed by approximately $1.5 billion fee per each "two-human lunar surface mission". Golden Spike would follow a model like that of the Russian spaceflight industry in the 1980s and 1990s. The company said it can cut costs by partnering with other aerospace companies and using existing rockets or rockets already in development, needing to only build a lunar lander and a specialized spacesuit for astronauts for the Moon.{{cite magazine | access-date = 2012-12-26 | access-date = 5 December 2012

Spacecraft and components used by this company would have been manufactured by American companies.{{cite web | access-date = 4 December 2012 | access-date = 5 December 2012

Lunar lander

In January 2013, Golden Spike contracted with Northrop Grumman for the design of a lunar lander, as one component of their "head start" commercial lunar architecture. Contracted tasks included "reviewing requirements and synthesizing a set of study ground rules and assumptions emphasizing system reliability, automated/ground command operability, and affordability, establishing velocity (Δv) budgets from and to low lunar orbit for pragmatic lunar landing sites, exploring a wide variety of lunar lander concept options, including staging, propellants, engines, reusability, autonomy, systems capabilities for exploration, as well as landing site flexibility, and establishing the design trade space and pragmatic limits for future more detailed analysis and development."{{cite web |access-date = 2013-01-04 |url-access = subscription |archive-date = 2020-10-22 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201022122942/http://www.newspacewatch.com/articles/golden-spike-contracts-northrop-grumman-for-lunar-lander-design.html |url-status = dead

Reaction

Scientific American wrote that "Golden Spike's plans rank among the most audacious privately funded space exploration missions ever proposed." Former director of NASA Johnson Space Center says "If NASA wants a ride, we'd be glad to put them on our railroad". NASA was supportive of the effort, and said it showed the merits of supporting commercial spaceflight.{{cite news | access-date = 2012-12-07

John E. Pike of GlobalSecurity.org said that the company's cost estimate was unrealistic: "Stern doesn’t have enough zeros in his budget."

The company's Indiegogo funding campaign raised $19,450 of its $240,000 goal.

References

References

1. [http://nasawatch.com/archives/2015/10/golden-spike-an.html Golden Spike: Another Space Commerce Casualty?]. Keith Cowing, ''NASA Watch''. October 27, 2015.
2. [https://www.space.com/35882-spacex-private-companies-offer-moon-trips.html SpaceX Isn't First Private Company to Offer Trips Around the Moon]. Calla Cofield, ''Space''. March 2, 2017.
3. "Alan Stern: World View Stratospheric Ballooning: Capabilities and Applications - NASA".
4. "Alan Stern's worldly ventures".
5. "Golden Spike is Sending Nations and People to the Moon, Join In!".