William A. Gaubatz

William Arthur Gaubatz (Bill) was born in Flint, Michigan, the youngest of four children (Lawrence, Mary Jane, Ruth) and grew up in the midwest before attending Purdue University through the Air Force ROTC program and obtaining his PhD in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering. It was there that he met Mary Elliott- the love of his life. They were married in January 1957. He is survived by his wife Mary, his four children and their spouses; Margaret Lynn (Maury), Karen (George), Mark (Denise), Derek (Judy) and his eleven grandchildren; Sean, Annie, Emily, Alex, Jessica, Matthew, Michelle, Jonathan, Bethany, Jeremy, Katelyn and his older sister, Ruth. After obtaining his PhD, the Air Force moved him to Edwards Air Force Base and it was here that Bill first discovered what would turn out to be his lifetime passion for the air and space industry while working with and supporting rocket test pilots in their efforts. After leaving active duty, Bill and the family spent some time in Ohio and New York before moving permanently to California in 1966. Bill joined McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) first in their Santa Monica location and then in Huntington Beach, CA. Bill continued to progress in his engineering career while also remaining active for 40 years in the Air Force Reserves. He taught night classes for many years at Vandenberg AFB as well as classes overseas at the AFB in Wiesbaden, Germany and summer classes in the Air Force training facility in San Diego. Bill had a wonderful career with McDonnell Douglas where he originated and managed the development of the Delta Clipper reusable spaceplane system concept. He was responsible for the Delta Clipper Experimental programs (DC-X and DC-XA) that proved through flight that aircraft like operations could be routinely achieved for spaceplanes. His efforts and those of his team had major impacts on US space programs and policy and on initiating today's fledgling Personal Spaceflight industry. As a result of his work, Bill and the entire Delta Clipper team was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 2013. After briefly retiring, Bill helped found Universal Space Lines, Inc. where he served as President of SpaceClipper International (SCI) with the long term goals of establishing an international network of spaceports and connecting Spaceway routes for routine, safe flights by the general public to and from and through space. At SCI he led studies for the SpaceClipper vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) commercial spaceplane. He fostered the concept for incremental development of the new reusable systems, starting with suborbital tourism and rocket racing to establish a market and a flight database that would support the development and certification for orbital and rapid point-to-point space transportation systems. Bill contributed to pioneering efforts for investigating the physiological and psychological system requirements for public space travel and space tourism and actively participated in early development activities leading to the formation of the Southwest Regional Spaceport in New Mexico. Bill was a Co-Founder of SpaceAvailable LLC and served as its President. Dr. Bill Gaubatz served as a Member of the Advisory Board of Rocket Racing, Inc. and the Technical Advisory Board of Space Energy AG. He was a charter member of the X-Prize Committee, participating as a judge in many competitions and served as the EVP for the X-Prize Foundation. He was the founder and Co-chair of the annual International Symposium for Personal Spaceflight (ISPS), Chairman of the Space Tourism Society, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), a member of the International Institute of Space Law (ISSL), member of the Board of Directors of Space Frontier Foundation and an Honorary member of the Japanese Rocket Society (JRS). Bill authored numerous papers and articles, including the inaugural Ansett Lecture for the SafeSkies Conference, Australia and was an international speaker advocating the development of the new space transportation infrastructure, the Spaceways, to open the space frontier to people. While his career was busy and full of achievements, Bill's greatest joy and lasting impact came in his roles at home as a wonderful husband, Dad, Grandad and brother. His favorite holiday was Thanksgiving when he and Mary had the entire family there for a long weekend of family time. Bill was an avid photographer and loved to travel with his wife Mary. They enjoyed many wonderful trips to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and yearly trips to Hawaii, Death Valley and their favorite fall trip to Sequoia and Kings Canyon. He loved spending time with his grandchildren, and he and Mary took them on multiple summer trips to Europe. Bill also found time to coach his sons' soccer teams for ten plus years. In his spare time, Bill loved relaxing by the pool, attending many music events and enjoying annual wine tasting trips. All who knew Bill will sorely miss his love, his warm and caring personality and his fun sense of humor.

We love you Bill --Dad – Grandad!

Friends and family are invited to a visitation on Saturday, July 19 2014 from 9 -1 p.m. at Green Hills Mortuary, Rancho Palos Verdes. This will be followed by a Memorial Service and reception at 2:00 p.m. at St. Peters by the Sea Presbyterian Church in Rancho Palos Verdes. The burial service will be held at Tulocay Cemetery, Napa, CA at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, July 21st.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations honoring Bill be sent to the 'Dr. William A. Gaubatz Memorial Fund' which has been established by the New Mexico Museum of Space History in New Mexico and will be administered by the International Space Hall of Fame Foundation. It is designated solely for the use in the design, development and creation of the DC-X SpaceQuest exhibit at the NM Museum of Space History. http://dc-xspacequest.org/ The DC-X and its legacy was a project that was near and dear to Bill's heart.


Funeral Home:
Green Hills Mortuary and Memorial Chapel
27501 S.Western Ave.
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
US 90275