Washington, D.C.--Sixth District Congressman Frank Lucas today met with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Daniel Goldin and executives from Lockheed Martin in separate meetings to discuss, among other issues, the availability of the Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark to serve as a site for future shuttle launches and landings of the VentureStar Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV).

The VentureStar program has been marketed as the next generation of space shuttle travel by Lockheed Martin who plans to construct this shuttle in the future. NASA and Lockheed Martin are presently conducting the X-33 program--a subscale technology demonstration prototype of the RLV VentureStar--under a cooperative agreement.

"Lockheed Martin's Vice-President Jerry Rising agreed that Burns Flat has many of the criteria needed to be a future launch and landing site for VentureStar," Lucas said. AHe also mentioned his recent trip to Oklahoma and visit with Governor Keating, as well as, the positive attitudes of several Oklahomans in legislative leadership positions about the project being brought to Oklahoma.

"Mr. Rising indicated that the decisions on which sites will be on the short list are not yet clear as Lockheed Martin continues to firm up their schedule of proposal and acceptance deadlines," Lucas continued. "However, he does believe that the final decision of the entire site choice process will be handed down in the third or fourth quarter of 1999."

Jerry Rising is the Vice-President of the X-33/RLV program at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California.

"In the meantime, Dan Goldin assured me of the successes of the X-33 prototype," Lucas said. "The prototype is scheduled to make its first test flight in late July 1999.

"Today's discussions were very beneficial," Lucas said. "Their progress reports indicated that the VentureStar program will be a reality. Additionally, the meetings helped communicate the continued interest of Oklahoma to host such a program. Commissioner Robert Tripplet and State Senator Gilmer Capps have put forth a lot of effort in putting Oklahoma in the running."

The VentureStar program would be a commercial program run by Lockheed Martin. NASA would be a customer of, not the operator of, this industry-developed RLV.