By Andrew W. Griffin

For The Transcript

Norman may not be known as a hotbed of aerospace innovation, but one small firm in the city is beginning to change that perception as they develop and promote economical sub-orbital rockets that could be used in a variety of ways.

TGV Rockets Inc., a 10-year-old Norman-based company, recently completed critical and successful test firings of a rocket engine at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi, according to TGV Rocket’s founder and CEO Pat Bahn.

Bahn showed The Transcript a video of the TGV demonstration recently filmed at Stennis which showed the company’s 30,000 pound engine, using JP-8 military-grade jet fuel. Bahn said the first test was a success, which is unusual in the rocket business.

Bahn said that the company hopes in the near future, they will be able to provide clients with affordable rockets that will be able to launch, go to the edge of space, perform thier duties and return to earth via a soft landing near the launch site. This would be done using a low-operational cost.

“When we started the firm, our interest was very broadly focused, but as we developed the ideas, we realized we could replace a multi-billion dollar imaging satellite with a $10 million-class rocketship.”

Bahn said his company is hoping to tap into a new, $800 million U.S. Air Force project that deals with the kind of rocket technology that his company specializes in. Landing that could be a real boon for TGV.

And while the military is an obvious client for TGV Rockets, Bahn said he hopes to get the attention of industrial farming operations looking to lower production costs by showing them that TGV Rockets’ cameras can take high-speed photos of a large agricultural area at the edge of space. This, he said, could then be used to show the agricultural outfit areas where chemicals are needed or not needed, thereby lessening spray costs among other issues.

“We basically want to create a low-cost way to produce satellite photography better, cheaper and faster,” Bahn said.

As for future clients, Bahn’s lips are sealed. He said it wouldn’t be appropriate to reveal any names before anything actually got off the ground.

Bahn is hoping the state’s Department of Transportation will begin supporting his company and future tests at the spaceport site at the former Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base near Burns Flat. He was disappointed the state didn’t seek him out regarding his rocket engine tests and that state officials seem more interested in rubbing shoulders with NASA officials and watching shuttle launches in Florida.

“One million dollars was spent in Mississippi,” Bahn said of his successful engine test. “I’m sorry that money couldn’t have been spent here.”

In the meantime, Bahn is talking with state and federal agencies hoping to get some increased attention for TGV Rockets.

“We’re trying to take the science out of rocket science,” Bahn said, adding, “and taking it from being a science project to a transportation mode.”