Proving Poker Flat.

• Position: Feasibility study contract for a satellite launch system at Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska awarded to Design Alaska Inc.

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority awarded Design Alaska Inc. of Fairbanks a $132,715 contract to analyze the feasibility of creating a commercial orbital satellite launch system at the Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks. Design Alaska, an architectural, engineering and surveying firm founded in 1957, has three subcontractors on the project: KPMG Peat Marwick, business/financial planning; Denver-based United Engineers & Contractors, aerospace engineering; and MicroSat Launch Systems of Herndon, Va., legal/regulatory analysis.

In contracting for the study, the authority is acting in cooperation with other state agencies and on behalf of the newly created Alaska Aerospace Development Corp. The "spaceport authority," as it is called, was established by the Alaska Legislature this spring to develop a commercial space industry in Alaska.

AIDEA also signed a contract with the Geophysical Institute of University of Alaska Fairbanks, to provide technical and professional reviews of Design Alaska's work. Design Alaska's...