Starfire Read online

  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

  SKY MASTERS AEROSPACE INC. PERSONNEL

  HUNTER “BOOMER” NOBLE, Ph.D., spaceplane pilot and chief of aerospace engineering

  HELEN KADDIRI, Ph.D., president and chairman of the board

  JASON RICHTER, colonel, U.S. Army (ret.), Ph.D., vice president and chief of technology development

  SONDRA EDDINGTON, student spaceplane pilot, Battle Mountain, Nevada

  ARMSTRONG SPACE STATION PERSONNEL

  KAI RAYDON, brigadier general, U.S. Air Force (ret.), station director

  TREVOR SHALE, station manager

  VALERIE LUKAS, chief of combat operations

  JESSICA “GONZO” FAULKNER, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Marine Corps (ret.), chief of flight operations, spaceplane pilot

  DR. MIRIAM ROTH, chief medical director

  HENRY LATHROP, aerospace tactical weapons officer

  CHRISTINE RAYHILL, terrestrial weapons/surveillance officer

  ALICE HAMILTON, engineering officer

  LARRY JESSOP, life-support techniciam

  THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D.C.

  KENNETH PHOENIX, president of the United States of America

  ANN PAGE, vice president of the United States and White House chief of staff

  WILLIAM GLENBROOK, president’s national security adviser

  JAMES MORRISON, secretary of state

  THOMAS TORREY, CIA director

  PAULA ELLS, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations

  ROBIN CLARKSON, special agent, U.S. Secret Service

  WASHINGTON, D.C.

  STACY ANNE BARBEAU, candidate for president of the United States

  LUKE COHEN, Barbeau’s campaign manager

  THE PENTAGON, WASHINGTON, D.C.

  FREDERICK HAYES, secretary of defense

  HAROLD LEE, undersecretary of defense for space

  TIMOTHY SPELLING, general, USAF, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  JASON CONAWAY, general, USAF, U.S. Air Force chief of staff

  JOSEPH EBERHART, admiral, U.S. Navy, commander, U.S. Strategic Command

  GEORGE SANDSTEIN, general, USAF, commander, Air Force Space Command, and deputy commander for space, U.S. Strategic Command

  SCION AVIATION INTERNATIONAL, ST. GEORGE, UTAH

  KEVIN MARTINDALE, president, former president of the United States of America

  CHRIS WOHL, sergeant major, U.S. Marines Corp (ret.), ground ops leader

  JAMES RATEL, chief master sergeant, U.S. Air Force (ret.), martial-arts instructor

  JORGE “DICE” LUNA, ground-team member (logistics)

  RICHARD “FLEX” ROSEN, ground-team member (intelligence)

  BEN “RATTLER” SCOTT, ground-team member (weapons)

  CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY (CAL POLY) SAN LUIS OBISPO, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

  BRADLEY J. MCLANAHAN, Battle Mountain, Nevada

  LANE EAGAN, Roseburg, Oregon

  KIM JUNG-BAE (“JERRY”), Seoul, United Korea

  CASEY HUGGINS, Kansas City, Missouri

  JODIE CAVENDISH, Brisbane, Australia

  DR. MARCUS HARRIS, Ed.D., president, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly)

  DR. TOSHUNIKO “TOBY” NUKAGA, Ph.D., aerospace engineering professor, Cal Poly

  RUSSIAN FEDERATION

  GENNADIY ANATOLIYVICH GRYZLOV, president of the Russian Federation

  SERGEI TARZAROV, president’s chief of staff

  VIKTOR KAZYANOV, minister of state security

  GREGOR SOKOLOV, minister of defense

  DARIA TITENEVA, foreign minister

  ANDREI NARYSHKIN, United Nations ambassador

  GENERAL MIKHAIL KHRISTENKO, chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces

  BRUNO ILIANOV, colonel, deputy air attaché, Russian embassy, Washington

  YVETTE KORCHKOV, assistant and bodyguard to Bruno Ilianov

  BORIS CHIRKOV, chief envoy, Russian Trade Mission, San Francisco, California

  COLONEL MIKHAIL GALTIN, Elektron spaceplane commander

  PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

  ZHOU QIANG, president of the People’s Republic of China

  COLONEL GENERAL SUN JI, chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Armed Forces

  UNITED NATIONS

  SOFYAN APRIYANTO, president of the United Nations Security Council

  WEAPONS AND ACRONYMS

  WEAPONS

  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

  S-500S—Russian surface-to-air missile system capable of attacking spacecraft in low Earth orbit

  scramjet—supersonic ramjet, an advanced air-breathing engine that can propel an aircraft beyond three times the speed of sound

  Skybolt—American space-based free electron laser

  SL-16—Russian heavy space launch rocket

  Soyuz—Russian manned space transportation capsule

  ACRONYMS

  ACES—Advanced Crew Escape Suit, a
light-duty space suit

  CBP—Customs and Border Protection

  CID—Cybenetic Infantry Device, a manned robot

  COIL—Chlorine-Oxygen-Iodine Laser, an American laser system

  DB—“duck blind,” a known base or site with antispacecraft weapons

  DEFCON—Defense Condition, a gradual escalation in readiness for nuclear war

  EEAS—Electronic Elastomeric Activity Suit

  EMP—Electromagnetic Pulse, a massive discharge of energy from a nuclear explosion that can damage electronics at long distances

  ICBM—Intercontinental Ballstic Missile

  JASSM—Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, an American long-range cruise missile

  LCVG—Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment, worn under a space suit to keep the wearer comfortable

  LOX—liquid oxygen

  MC—Mission Commander, the “copilot” aboard a spacecraft

  MHD—magnetohydrodynamic generator, produces electricity by spinning plasma through a magnetic field

  MRE—Meals Ready to Eat, American field ration

  NRL—Naval Research Laboratory

  PAC-3—Patriot Advanced Capability, an American surface-to-air missile with an antiballistic-missile capability

  PLSS—Primary Life-Support System—the backpack worn by astronauts that provides oxygen, power, and environmental controls

  ROS—Russian Orbital Section, the Russian-built portion of the International Space Station

  SAFER—Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue, an American device worn by astronauts conducting an EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) to maneuver back to safety if disconnected from a tether

  SBIRS—Space-Based Infrared System, American next-generation missile detection and tracking system

  SBR—Space-Based Radar, American advanced space and Earth surveillance system

  UC—University of California college system

  WCS (“wicks”)—Waste Containment System, a commode used on spacecraft

  REAL-WORLD NEWS EXCERPTS

  RUSSIA TO REVAMP AIR-SPACE DEFENSES BY 2020—Ria Novosti—Moscow—Russia will create a new generation of air and space defenses to counter any strikes against its territory by 2020 due to a potential foreign threat, the Air Force commander said on Tuesday.

  “By 2030 . . . foreign countries, particularly the United States, will be able to deliver coordinated high-precision strikes from air and space against any target on the whole territory of Russia,” Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said, referring to the potential for new hypersonic and space-based offensive weapons.

  “That is why the main goal of the development of the Russian Air Force until 2020 is to create a new branch of the Armed Forces, which would form the core of the country’s air and space defenses to provide a reliable deterrent during peacetime, and repel any military aggression with the use of conventional and nuclear arsenals in a time of war,” the general said.

  “In line with the new air-space defense concept, we have already formed a number of brigades, which will be armed with S-400 and S-500 air defense systems,” Zelin said at a news conference in Moscow.

  The S400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) is designed to intercept and destroy airborne targets at a distance of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles), twice the range of the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot, and 2 1/2 times that of Russia’s S-300PMU-2.

  The system is also believed to be able to destroy stealth aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, and is effective at ranges up to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) and speeds up to 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) per second.

  The fifth-generation S-500 air defense system, which is currently in the blueprint stage and is expected to be rolled out by 2012, would outperform the S-400 as well as the U.S. Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system.

  “The S-500 system is being developed under a unique design . . . and will be capable of destroying hypersonic and ballistic targets,” the general said.

  Meanwhile, the Soviet-era MiG-31 Foxhound supersonic interceptor aircraft will most likely be used as part of the new air-space defense network, as was intended when it was designed.

  “We are upgrading this system to be able to accomplish the same air-space defense tasks,” Zelin said.

  According to some sources, Russia has over 280 MiG-31 aircraft in active service and about 100 aircraft in reserve.

  AEGIS BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE INTERCEPTS TARGET USING SPACE TRACKING AND SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM—U.S. Department of Defense, 13 February 2013—The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS Lake Erie (CG 70) successfully conducted a flight test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, resulting in the intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile target over the Pacific Ocean by a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IA guided missile.

  At 11:10 P.M. HST, (4:10 A.M. EST) a unitary medium-range ballistic missile target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, on Kauai, Hawaii. The target flew northwest toward a broad ocean area of the Pacific Ocean.

  The in-orbit Space Tracking and Surveillance System-Demonstrators (STSS-D) detected and tracked the target, and forwarded track data to the USS Lake Erie. The ship, equipped with the second-generation Aegis BMD weapon system, used Launch on Remote doctrine to engage the target.

  The ship developed a fire control solution from the STSS-D track and launched the SM-3 Block IA guided missile approximately five minutes after target launch. The SM-3 maneuvered to a point in space and released its kinetic warhead. The kinetic warhead acquired the target reentry vehicle, diverted into its path, and, using only the force of a direct impact, engaged and destroyed the target.

  Today’s event, designated Flight Test Standard Missile-20 (FTM-20), was a demonstration of the ability of space-based assets to provide midcourse fire control quality data to an Aegis BMD ship, extending the battlespace, providing the ability for longer-range intercepts and defense of larger areas . . .

  RUSSIAN SUPPLY SHIP DOCKS WITH ORBITING SPACE STATION—Moscow (UPI)—July 28, 2013—An unmanned cargo ship has docked at the International Space Station to deliver nearly 3 tons of supplies, Russia’s space agency said.

  The Progress 52 spacecraft docked smoothly with the orbiting station Saturday, shortly after being launched from Russia aboard a Soyuz rocket. “The docking was carried out in automated regime as scheduled,” a spokesman for the space agency Roscosmos said.

  Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency said the mission returned to the short 6-hour course to the space station. The previous supply mission took two days to rendezvous with the station. Before that, three space freighters—Progress M-16M, Progress M-17M and Progress M-18M—also delivered their cargo to the ISS in six hours.

  Progress M-20M will bring some 2.4 metric tons of fuel, food, oxygen, scientific and medical equipment to the orbital outpost.

  Fragments of Russia’s Progress M-18M space freighter sank safely in the Pacific Ocean after reentering the atmosphere on Friday, a spokesman for the Russian mission control center said.

  The spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station shortly after midnight Moscow time and started its final journey toward a remote location in the Pacific Ocean known as the “spacecraft cemetery.”

  EXPERIMENTAL SPACE PLANE COULD CUT SATELLITE COSTS—Ray Locker, USA Today, 13 November 2013—The Pentagon wants to cut the costs of putting satellites into space by creating a “space plane” that can fly into low Earth orbit and release satellites for about $5 million a launch.

  Called the XS-1, the plane to be developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) would be capable of flying 10 times the speed of sound (Mach 10), and carry payloads between 3,000 and 5,000 pounds into orbit, according to documents released this week.

  If developed, the plane would be capable of rushing smaller satellites into space and cutting the long lead times necessary to use conventional launchers, such as rockets. “Current space launch vehicles are very expensive, have no surge capability, and must be contracted years in advance (i.e.
, long call-up times),” DARPA records show . . .

  . . . The XS-1 project follows a 10-year effort to build another hypersonic vehicle, called the Falcon HTV-2. According to a 2003 DARPA plan, the Falcon was intended to be capable of taking off “from a conventional military runway and striking targets 9,000 nautical miles distant in less than two hours. It could carry a 12,000-pound payload consisting of Common Aero Vehicles (CAVs), cruise missiles, small diameter bombs, or other munitions . . .”

  PROLOGUE

  Revenge is a kind of wild justice.

  —SIR FRANCIS BACON

  SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

  APRIL 2016

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” the flight attendant said over the airliner’s public-address system, “let me be the first to welcome you to Sacramento’s Patrick S. McLanahan International Airport, where the local time is eight-oh-five P.M.” She continued with the usual warnings about staying seated with seat belts fastened and watching for loose articles in the overhead bins as the airliner taxied to its assigned gate.

  One of the first-class passengers, wearing a business suit and white oxford shirt with no tie, looked up from his magazine in surprise. “They named Sacramento International after General Patrick McLanahan?” he said to his companion seated beside him. He spoke with a very slight European accent, hard to pinpoint from which country he was from to the other passengers seated around them. He was tall, bald but with a dark well-groomed goatee, and ruggedly handsome, like a recently retired professional athlete.

  The woman looked at him with amusement. “You did not know that?” she asked. She had the same accent—definitely European, but hard for the other passengers within earshot to pin down. Like her companion, she was tall, beautiful without being sexy, with pinned-up, long blond hair, an athletic figure, and high cheekbones. She wore a business suit that had been made to look unbusinesslike for travel. They most definitely looked like a power couple.

  “No. You made the reservations, remember. Besides, the airport code on the ticket still says ‘SMF,’ back when it was Sacramento Metropolitan Field.”

  “Well, it is Sacramento-McLanahan Field now,” the woman said. “Fits perfectly, if you ask me. I think it is a great honor. Patrick McLanahan was a real hero.” The passengers across the aisle from the couple, although pretending not to eavesdrop, nodded in agreement.