FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 13, 2006
For more information contact:

Eugene (Gene) Watson, Program Manager
Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative
Phone: 307.742.7162, 307.760.0456 cell

John Wickman, Wickman Spacecraft and Propulsion
3745A Studer
Casper, Wyoming 82604
Phone: 307.265.5895

Wickman Spacecraft and Propulsion wins second SBIR Phase II award

CHEYENNE – Listening to Casper scientist John Wickman talk about his latest project for the military is to hear the changing face of war.

For the second time this year, Wickman Spacecraft and Propulsion, has earned an SBIR Phase II award for their work with the United States military. In October, Wickman won a Phase II from the United States Army to develop a new solid rocket motor with an innovative pintle nozzle.

Wickman’s most recent award – a $738,000 Phase II from the U.S. Air Force Research Labs – comes as a result of his work on Small Launch Vehicle (SLV) technologies. The SLV uses a solid rocket motor with special nozzles to provide real time thrust control and steering of the weapon it launches.

Wickman’s SLV can be used to launch satellites into orbit on 24 hours notice, rather than six months and at a cost of only $5 million per launch – at least $5,000,000 less than any other option the military has. This will allow the military to get surveillance satellites into orbit over time-sensitive targets quickly.

But, perhaps the most beneficial military application for this SLV is as a quick-strike missile launcher. Wickman hopes his SLV can be launched off a pad or out the back of a cargo plane and be anywhere in the world within a half-hour.

"Now, nobody is safe," said Wickman. “If they see (Osama) bin Laden and his crew out there somewhere in Afghanistan and they are only going to be exposed for 30 minutes or so now, we can’t do anything about it. But, with this new weapon they could launch a Common Aero Vehicle (CAV) and within 20 minutes, smart weapons would be launched against them, even if he was moving. The vehicle, even as he is moving, is aware of the target.”

In winning a Phase I award, the granting agency offers money for the firm proposing the technology to do a feasibility study. In Phase II a prototype is built. For his Phase II, Wickman will attempt to demonstrate the enabling technologies through cold flow testing, solid rocket motor tests and a demonstration motor firing. Wickman also says the Phase II testing will pave the way for a successful flight followed by a launch of a satellite into orbit with Wickman’s SLV in the Phase III effort. Wickman won a Phase I award for this project in June of 2006 and a Phase 0 in November of 2003.

The SBIR Phase 0 Program helps Wyoming companies develop competitive proposals for the federal SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The SBIR Phase 0 program is a project of the Wyoming SBIR/STTR Initiative (WSSI). The WSSI initiative is funded by the Wyoming Business Council and gives out $120,000 in Phase 0 awards each year.

The federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs make up the WSSI alliance and provide more than $2 billion annually in Research and Development (R&D) grants and contracts to qualified small businesses.

Eleven federal agencies are required by law to provide these funds by setting aside 2.5 percent of their annual extra-mural R&D budgets for use exclusively by U.S. small businesses for new product R&D. Hence, these programs provide a unique source of start-up and seed capital for small businesses to develop new innovative product concepts.

The mission of the Wyoming Business Council is to facilitate the economic growth of Wyoming. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.wyomingbusiness.org.

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