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Apur-ee.172 net.columbia utzoo!decvax!pur-ee!davy Thu Nov 19 12:01:25 1981 Private Investors Price Shuttle

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) -- A group of private investors has approached the Reagan administration to propose buying a space shuttle in what would mark the beginning of major private-sector involvement in the nation's space program, one person involved in the venture says. Officials at the Space Transportation Co. of Princeton, N.J., want to buy a shuttle similar to the Columbia and rent it to an operator -- the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or a private entity, the Dallas Morning News reported today. "Essentially, there are a lot of people paying a lot of money for satellites to do what a shuttle can do cheaper," said William H. Sword Jr., who with his father is part of a Princeton investment firm organizing the planned venture. "We think private business will be able to handle all that future business more efficiently than the government," the younger Sword told The Associated Press today. The Space Transportation Co. wants to buy the fifth shuttle, the newspaper said. A consultant with the Space Transportation Co. said the firm had at least $200 million in an escrow account, but Heiss would not confirm or deny that. The Columbia cost more than $500 million.

>From The Lafayette Journal and Courier (the Daily Mistake), 11-18-81. --Dave

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