Beal Aerospace of Frisco, Texas, was founded by Andrew Beal, President of Beal Bank, Dallas, entirely with private funds in 1997 to design, manufacture, and operate low-cost satellite launch vehicles. The company became a pioneer in the privatization of space flight.
The company developed and successfully test-fired the second most powerful liquid-fuel rocket engine ever produced in the United States. At 810,000 pounds of static thrust, the Beal BA-810 engine’s power was exceeded only by the F-1 rocket engine developed in the 1960s for the Saturn V rocket used to carry astronauts to the Moon.