Pioneering privatized space flight.
In 1997, Andy Beal founded Beal Aerospace, a private spaceflight company headquartered in Texas which designed and tested large, liquid-fuel rocket engines with a goal of reaching orbit without government funding.
At a Glance
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Year founded
- 1997
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Employees
- 200+
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Headquarters and test site
- Texas
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A simple goal using powerful technology.
The intended vehicle was a rocket capable of delivering payloads to orbit at commercially competitive prices. The approach was deliberately simple by rocket standards: pressure-fed engines avoid the complex turbopump machinery that drives up cost and failure rates in many rocket designs. Simpler systems, managed with discipline, was the operating philosophy.
Beal Aerospace aimed to produce a three-stage, 200-foot-tall rocket powered by hydrogen peroxide and kerosene. The engine eliminated the need for a separate ignition system because, as the hydrogen peroxide oxidized, it ignited the kerosene.
On March 4, 2000, Beal Aerospace tested the BA-810 Stage 2 engine, which was the largest liquid-fueled rocket engine built since NASA's Apollo Saturn V rocket. The 810,000-pound vacuum thrust hydrogen peroxide/kerosene engine made a 21-second firing at the company's engine test facility in McGregor, Texas.
Test firing of the BA-810 Stage 2 engine in McGregor, TX on March 4, 2000. Video used with permission of WFAA.
A decision based on evidence.
In October 2000, Andy Beal announced he was closing Beal Aerospace. His reason was direct: the US government's financial support for competing launch providers made it impossible for a privately funded company to compete on commercial terms. NASA's investments in vehicles that competed directly with private launch services distorted the market in ways that no amount of engineering discipline could overcome.
The legacy is preserved with a permanent exhibit in the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas showcasing Beal Aerospace and including a scale model of the rocket.
Same discipline, different industry.
Beal Aerospace is an enlightening chapter in Andy Beal's story because it tells the story of someone who identified a problem, committed the resources required to pursue it seriously, and applied the same analytical discipline to the exit that he had applied to the engineering.
Beal Bank USA was built on these same principles. We do fewer things and do them well, managing risk with the same rigor Andy Beal brought to rocket engines and unsolved mathematical problems.
Andy Beal's other areas of interest.
Explore the fascinating work Mr. Beal has accomplished in numbers theory and in supporting future STEM pioneers.