Posted: Tue, Jul 22, 2003, 5:46 PM ET (2146 GMT)
Kistler Aerospace Corporation, a startup company that tried to develop a reusable launch vehicle in the 1990s, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, Space News reported in its July 21 print issue. According to the report, Kistler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Washington State on July 15, reporting assets of $6.3 million versus claims against the company of over $600 million. The filing is designed to provide the company with "greater flexibility to meet changing market demands and will ensure completion of the first K-1 vehicle," company officials said in a statement quoted by Space News. The company has received a $4.6 million loan from a group of financiers to allow the company to keep operating through the reorganization. The company, founded in the early 1990s, worked on developing a two-stage RLV called K-1. The company reportedly raised — and spent — several hundred million dollars on the K-1, but ran out of money before they were able to complete the vehicle. The company has been relatively inactive in recent years, although it did win a $125 million NASA contract in 2001 under the Space Launch Initiative to fly NASA test payloads on the K-1; that contract was contingent on Kistler completing the vehicle. According to a status report on the Kistler web site, dated May 1, 2003, the first K-1 vehicle is 75% complete.

Related Links:

•  Kistler Aerospace web site (not updated)
•  HobbySpace.com article