Starfire

DEDICATION

I used to dream about being chosen to be an astronaut in the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and someday walking on the moon or doing experiments on a space station orbiting Earth. I thought there was nothing better than being in NASA . . .

. . . until the advent of private companies, universities, and individuals with the vision and determination to think outside the government-controlled bureaucratic box, accept the risks, and get the job of space travel done.

This novel is dedicated to the innovators, entrepreneurs, and the just plain bold and brash visionaries who have struck out against all odds to make manned spaceflight by nongovernmental entities a reality. What could be better than flying in space on a spacecraft
you
and
your company
designed and built?

As always, your comments are welcome at [email protected] I can't promise to reply to every e-mail, but I read every one.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Cast of Characters

Weapons and Acronyms

Real-World News Excerpts

Prologue

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by Dale Brown

Credits

Copyright

About the Publisher

CAST OF CHARACTERS

S
KY
M
ASTERS
A
EROSPACE
I
NC
. P
ERSONNEL

H
UNTER
“B
OOMER
” N
OBLE
, Ph.D., spaceplane pilot and chief of aerospace engineering

H
ELEN
K
ADDIRI
, Ph.D., president and chairman of the board

J
ASON
R
ICHTER
, colonel, U.S. Army (ret.), Ph.D., vice president and chief of technology development

S
ONDRA
E
DDINGTON
, student spaceplane pilot, Battle Mountain, Nevada

A
RMSTRONG
S
PACE
S
TATION
P
ERSONNEL

K
AI
R
AYDON
, brigadier general, U.S. Air Force (ret.), station director

T
REVOR
S
HALE
, station manager

V
ALERIE
L
UKAS
, chief of combat operations

J
ESSICA
“G
ONZO
” F
AULKNER
, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Marine Corps (ret.), chief of flight operations, spaceplane pilot

D
R
. M
IRIAM
R
OTH
, chief medical director

H
ENRY
L
ATHROP
, aerospace tactical weapons officer

C
HRISTINE
R
AYHILL
, terrestrial weapons/surveillance officer

A
LICE
H
AMILTON
, engineering officer

L
ARRY
J
ESSOP
, life-support techniciam

T
HE
W
HITE
H
OUSE
, W
ASHINGTON
, D.C.

K
ENNETH
P
HOENIX
, president of the United States of America

A
NN
P
AGE
, vice president of the United States and White House chief of staff

W
ILLIAM
G
LENBROOK
, president's national security adviser

J
AMES
M
ORRISON
, secretary of state

T
HOMAS
T
ORREY
, CIA director

P
AULA
E
LLS
, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations

R
OBIN
C
LARKSON
, special agent, U.S. Secret Service

W
ASHINGTON
, D.C.

S
TACY
A
NNE
B
ARBEAU
, candidate for president of the United States

L
UKE
C
OHEN
, Barbeau's campaign manager

T
HE
P
ENTAGON
, W
ASHINGTON
, D.C.

F
REDERICK
H
AYES
, secretary of defense

H
AROLD
L
EE
, undersecretary of defense for space

T
IMOTHY
S
PELLING
, general, USAF, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

J
ASON
C
ONAWAY
, general, USAF, U.S. Air Force chief of staff

J
OSEPH
E
BERHART
, admiral, U.S. Navy, commander, U.S. Strategic Command

G
EORGE
S
ANDSTEIN
, general, USAF, commander, Air Force Space Command, and deputy commander for space, U.S. Strategic Command

S
CION
A
VIATION
I
NTERNATIONAL
, S
T
. G
EORGE
, U
TAH

K
EVIN
M
ARTINDALE
, president, former president of the United States of America

C
HRIS
W
OHL
, sergeant major, U.S. Marines Corp (ret.), ground ops leader

J
AMES
R
ATEL
, chief master sergeant, U.S. Air Force (ret.), martial-arts instructor

J
ORGE
“D
ICE
” L
UNA
, ground-team member (logistics)

R
ICHARD
“F
LEX
” R
OSEN
, ground-team member (intelligence)

B
EN
“R
ATTLER
” S
COTT
, ground-team member (weapons)

C
ALIFORNIA
P
OLYTECHNIC
S
TATE
U
NIVERSITY
(C
AL
P
OLY
) S
AN
L
UIS
O
BISPO
, C
OLLEGE
OF
E
NGINEERING

B
RADLEY
J. M
C
L
ANAHAN
, Battle Mountain, Nevada

L
ANE
E
AGAN
, Roseburg, Oregon

K
IM
J
UNG
-
BAE
(“J
ERRY
”), Seoul, United Korea

C
ASEY
H
UGGINS
, Kansas City, Missouri

J
ODIE
C
AVENDISH
, Brisbane, Australia

D
R
. M
ARCUS
H
ARRIS
, Ed.D., president, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly)

D
R
. T
OSHUNIKO
“T
OBY
” N
UKAGA
, Ph.D., aerospace engineering professor, Cal Poly

R
USSIAN
F
EDERATION

G
ENNADIY
A
NATOLIYVICH
G
RYZLOV
, president of the Russian Federation

S
ERGEI
T
ARZAROV
, president's chief of staff

V
IKTOR
K
AZYANOV
, minister of state security

G
REGOR
S
OKOLOV
, minister of defense

D
ARIA
T
ITENEVA
, foreign minister

A
NDREI
N
ARYSHKIN
, United Nations ambassador

G
ENERAL
M
IKHAIL
K
HRISTENKO
, chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces

B
RUNO
I
LIANOV
, colonel, deputy air attaché, Russian embassy, Washington

Y
VETTE
K
ORCHKOV
, assistant and bodyguard to Bruno Ilianov

B
ORIS
C
HIRKOV
, chief envoy, Russian Trade Mission, San Francisco, California

C
OLONEL
M
IKHAIL
G
ALTIN
, Elektron spaceplane commander

P
EOPLE
'
S
R
EPUBLIC
OF
C
HINA

Z
HOU
Q
IANG
, president of the People's Republic of China

C
OLONEL
G
ENERAL
S
UN
J
I
, chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Armed Forces

U
NITED
N
ATIONS

S
OFYAN
A
PRIYANTO
, president of the United Nations Security Council

WEAPONS AND ACRONYMS

W
EAPONS

9K720
—Russian air-launched antispacecraft missile

B-1B Lancer (“Bone”)
—American long-range heavy bomber

BOHM (“bomb”)
—borohydrogen metaoxide, an oxidizer in advanced hybrid rocket engines

BOR-5 Buran
—unmanned Soviet space shuttle

C-23C Sherpa
—American short-haul cargo plane

Elektron
—Russian spaceplane

Gvozd'
(Hobnail)
—Russian space-borne laser

Hydra
—American space-based laser

Iskander
—Russian short- to medium-range ballistic missile

Kingfisher
—a constellation of American antispacecraft and ground-attack space-based weapons

“leopards”
—Laser Pulse Detonation Rocket System, an advanced hybrid turbofan/scramjet/rocket engine

MiG-31D
—Mikoyan-Gurevich-31D, Soviet and Russian advanced high-speed interceptor; the “D” model is used to launch antisatellite missiles

Mjollnir
—“Thor's Hammer,” American space-launched land-attack projectile

nantenna
—nanoscopic rectifying antenna, used to convert light to electric power

Progress
—Russian unmanned space transportation module

rectenna
—rectifying antenna, a device that converts electromagnetic energy into direct current electricity

S-9, S-19, S-29
—American single-stage-to-orbit spaceplanes