Company Founder Uninjured In Blast

A fledgling private spacecraft company's quest for cheaper paths to space appears to have suffered a setback.

Jim Akkerman, president of Houston-based Advent Launch Services, accidentally caused an explosion Saturday morning that destroyed the rocket engine for his prototype spacecraft (graphic shown above).

The explosion occurred while Akkerman worked on his concept spacecraft at a former blimp base in Hitchcock, TX. Akkerman -- who, fortunately, wasn't injured in the blast -- said the engine misfired during a test, resulting in a buildup of methane-oxygen fumes in the engine's combustion chamber.

"It's just an experiment that went bad," police Chief Glenn Manis told the Galveston County Daily News.

According to the Advent Web site, Akkerman was an engineer for NASA for 36 years, who formed his own company in 1999 with the help of several other NASA retirees. Advent is developing a vertical-launch spacecraft capable of landing on the ocean surface like a seaplane.

Akkerman and his team have based their design around the methane-fueled rocket engine, which they originally pitched to NASA in 1992.

Advent entered a 2004 prototype in NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation System competition, but lost. The company says it has already completed test launches of prototype models from a sea-based platform, and recovered them following safe ocean touchdowns.

Officials with state and federal law enforcement -- including the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives -- looked into the explosion, but all said Akkerman didn't break any laws.

FMI: www.adventlaunchservices.com