These days, the front door of Beal Aerospace is locked,
and knocks go unanswered. Three vehicles dot the otherwise empty
parking lot, testifying that there is still life at the headquarters
of the defunct satellite launch company. All but a handful of the
200-plus engineers, rocket scientists, and assorted staff have been
laid off, and the vacant rows of their parking spaces seem like
unmarked graves.
One of the vehicles belongs to a woman who finally comes
through the lobby to unlock the front door. She leads you into a
bright room dominated by a 20-foot-tall model rocket. Photos line
the lobby, shots of a dogleg in a jungle river, a spectacled
scientist peering at a machine part, and an aerial photo of Sombrero
Island, bare rock surrounded by blue water. All bear the same gruff
remark in the corner: "Details of the operations and items shown in
this photo are proprietary and confidential and cannot be
discussed."
The woman signs you in on a clipboard. The list of
visitors is short. "It's so rare anyone comes out here," says the
woman, one of the few people still employed at Beal Aerospace.
One of the other surviving employees at the empty
facility is corporate counsel David Spoede, who moved his office
from the executive upper floors to ground level. What was once his
office now houses only file cabinets and loops of wiring unspooling
from the ceiling like intestines. Framed maps of South American
islands sit against cardboard boxes stuffed with a mix of legal
documents and mementos.
The emptiness hits home when you explore the cavernous
space where they planned to build rockets. Not just any rockets:
rockets powered by the largest engine developed by anyone in the
United States since the Apollo space program. The Stage One rocket
designed by Beal Aerospace burns three backyard swimming pools of
fuel per second.
The abandoned, unsellable equipment stored in the empty
warehouse provides some perspective on just how ambitious the
project was. In one corner sits a 40-foot cylinder ringed with
several hundred half-inch rivet holes, the thrust tube for a Stage
Two rocket engine, which couples the second-stage engine to the
rocket's body. This piece has seen action, fired during a
well-publicized test in McGregor, near Waco.
Pages: 1 2
3 4
5 6
.gif)
