SpaceDev a finalist (SPDV)
At the risk of alienating all the folks who read this site and who don't follow pink sheets and over the counter stocks, I have a couple things to note about SpaceDev (SPDV).
Though the share price has been in the doldrums for months, currently in the $1.30s and looking somewhat attractive, SpaceDev had some very good news last week -- they're a finalist in NASA's $500 million program to replace the space shuttle with a lower-cost vehicle to service the International Space Station.
SpaceDev is one of six finalists, all of whom are small space companies (no Lockheed Martin, Boeing, etc. on this contract). The contract is for a transport vehicle to be demonstrated by 2009 and possibly flying by 2010 to supply the International Space Station while the Shuttle is on mothballs for a few years (between the current shuttle, which will be retired by then, and the next generation shuttle, which will not be ready for probably ten years).
The companies are all small concerns -- some, like SpaceX and Andrews Space, have collaborated with SpaceDev in the past on various smaller projects. I don't know enough about the business to tell which one might win, but SpaceDev's strength is low-cost, standardized products built with off the shelf, reliable commercial parts (as opposed to the 1960s electronics that run most legacy spacecraft today), and I think SpaceDev's strengths closely match NASAs new focus on cost-effectiveness and safety.
I don't know anything about some of these companies, but a few are familiar. Andrews Space is very well respected and worked with SpaceDev on a moon-related pilot research project last year. SpaceX is owned by Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal who has sunk a ton of his own money into developing low-cost launch vehicles to compete with the massively expensive satellite launchers that are currently available (and SpaceDev is one of SpaceX's first customers).
My guess is that those three would be the frontrunners, though a lot of folks like Spacehab as well. I like SpaceDev's chances because their vehicle is based on an old NASA design that has been tested in space to some extent and on SpaceDev's proprietary non-volatile propulsion system that safely launched SpaceShipOne when it won the X-Prize a year or so ago.
Here's an article about the finalists, and the press release from SpaceDev, and more information from SpaceDev about their proposed vehicle, in case you're interested.
It will be at least a couple months before more news is out, and I have no idea whether NASA is likely to fund more than one company or project. SpaceDev and Starsys, which they recently acquired, also have multiple smaller projects and contracts that help to pay the bills, they don't depend solely on the hope of getting the COTS contract (though they do depend significantly on a current satellite contract with the Department of Defense, which is their biggest current project but which would likely be dwarfed by COTS).
SpaceDev has been around for a long time and just started being marginally profitable -- there's every chance that the shares could go down as quickly as up, though I've been thinking of adding some more down here in the $1.30s (my cost basis is closer to $1.70 at the moment). Part of my excitement about SpaceDev earlier this year was that they seemed close to ready to being relisted on a major exchange following their acquisition of Starsys (they're now big enough), but SpaceDev management has downplayed that possibility and seems content to focus instead on winning new business -- which is commendable.
Though the share price has been in the doldrums for months, currently in the $1.30s and looking somewhat attractive, SpaceDev had some very good news last week -- they're a finalist in NASA's $500 million program to replace the space shuttle with a lower-cost vehicle to service the International Space Station.
SpaceDev is one of six finalists, all of whom are small space companies (no Lockheed Martin, Boeing, etc. on this contract). The contract is for a transport vehicle to be demonstrated by 2009 and possibly flying by 2010 to supply the International Space Station while the Shuttle is on mothballs for a few years (between the current shuttle, which will be retired by then, and the next generation shuttle, which will not be ready for probably ten years).
The companies are all small concerns -- some, like SpaceX and Andrews Space, have collaborated with SpaceDev in the past on various smaller projects. I don't know enough about the business to tell which one might win, but SpaceDev's strength is low-cost, standardized products built with off the shelf, reliable commercial parts (as opposed to the 1960s electronics that run most legacy spacecraft today), and I think SpaceDev's strengths closely match NASAs new focus on cost-effectiveness and safety.
I don't know anything about some of these companies, but a few are familiar. Andrews Space is very well respected and worked with SpaceDev on a moon-related pilot research project last year. SpaceX is owned by Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal who has sunk a ton of his own money into developing low-cost launch vehicles to compete with the massively expensive satellite launchers that are currently available (and SpaceDev is one of SpaceX's first customers).
My guess is that those three would be the frontrunners, though a lot of folks like Spacehab as well. I like SpaceDev's chances because their vehicle is based on an old NASA design that has been tested in space to some extent and on SpaceDev's proprietary non-volatile propulsion system that safely launched SpaceShipOne when it won the X-Prize a year or so ago.
Here's an article about the finalists, and the press release from SpaceDev, and more information from SpaceDev about their proposed vehicle, in case you're interested.
It will be at least a couple months before more news is out, and I have no idea whether NASA is likely to fund more than one company or project. SpaceDev and Starsys, which they recently acquired, also have multiple smaller projects and contracts that help to pay the bills, they don't depend solely on the hope of getting the COTS contract (though they do depend significantly on a current satellite contract with the Department of Defense, which is their biggest current project but which would likely be dwarfed by COTS).
SpaceDev has been around for a long time and just started being marginally profitable -- there's every chance that the shares could go down as quickly as up, though I've been thinking of adding some more down here in the $1.30s (my cost basis is closer to $1.70 at the moment). Part of my excitement about SpaceDev earlier this year was that they seemed close to ready to being relisted on a major exchange following their acquisition of Starsys (they're now big enough), but SpaceDev management has downplayed that possibility and seems content to focus instead on winning new business -- which is commendable.
Labels: SPDV
This article posted by One Guy @ 5/24/2006 02:26:00 PM 0 comments
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