Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, March 21, 2005 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Jim Maser

"Shining Sea to Silent Space: Sea Launch"

ABSTRACT -- Sea Launch Company, LLC, is an international partnership of American, Russian, Ukrainian, and Norwegian businesses. The Sea Launch equatorial launch site provides the most direct route to geostationary orbit, offering lift capacity up to 6000kg. from a platform at sea. The speaker will describe the history, partnership and operations for this ten-year-old company that has seen many successful commercial launches, such as satellites for XM Satellite Radio.

SPEAKER -- Jim Maser has been President and General Manager of Sea Launch Company, LLC since 2001. Prior to his current position, Maser was a research fellow at the NASA/Glenn (Lewis) Research Center before joining McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) in the 1980s. Starting out with the Boeing Delta and Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle programs in structural design, he became lead of advanced studies in systems integration and was one of the key architects of the evolution of Delta II to Delta IV. In 1998, Maser transitioned from Chief Engineer of Delta III to Chief Engineer of Sea Launch. Maser graduated magna cum laude from the University of Akron (Ohio ) with a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, followed by a Master's Degree in Engineering. He later received a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles. In 2000, the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics honored Maser with its coveted George M. Low Space Transportation Award.