St. Cloud space shuttle project goes on, despite financial woes of its guiding force

Felicity-John Pederson, creator of a promising St. Cloud tech company, made headlines last year when he brought a full-scale replica of the space shuttle from Florida to his hometown

But Pederson's company, LVX System, went bust in February and Pederson filed personal bankruptcy earlier this week. Still, the space shuttle project appears to be moving forward, though without Pederson as a guiding force.

The 25-ton fuselage of the Inspiration space shuttle replica arrived in St. Cloud in June, after a weeklong trek by truck.

"NASA donated it to [LVX] hoping we would use it for education, and that's just what it is going to be doing," Pederson said in an interview this week.

Pederson said he bought the shuttle replica from LVX, compensating the company for its expenses. "No one made a dime on the thing."

Under Pederson's ownership, the shuttle made its way to Minnesota. Pederson said he donated it to Jason Bernick of Rice, Minn., who will in turn donate it to the Inspiration Space Port nonprofit group.

Inspiration Space Port is aiming to create an educational space exhibit anchored by the shuttle replica in St. Cloud. It's looking for a permanent site before reassembling pieces of the shuttle.

"The site selection process is advancing, and an announcement will be made when a property deal is secured," the space port group said in statement Thursday.

Bernick, one of Inspiration Space Port's leaders, declined to comment further. He is director of corporate affairs at Bernick's, a family-owned beer and beverage distributor headquartered in St. Cloud.

Bernick spent over $600,000 to move the shuttle replica from Florida to Minnesota, according to Pederson's personal bankruptcy filing.

He also was an investor in LVX System, one of about 75 Minnesotans who own stock or notes in the company. LVX, which Pederson founded in 2007, raised over $20 million, though its stock is now worthless.

Pederson developed a promising technology for wireless communications using light waves instead of radio waves.

By 2015, LVX had inked a research and development agreement with NASA. The space agency thought LVX's technology could be used in spacecraft, including on missions to Mars.

But commercial sales of LVX's product to NASA — or just about anyone else — didn't materialize. Pederson has blamed past CEOs at LVX for failing to properly execute on his ideas.

When LVX filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in February, it had liabilities of over $5.8 million and listed assets of only $1,652. An LVX subsidiary holds 68 U.S. patents with a book value of $866,000, but their market value is unknown.

On Monday, Pederson and his wife, Irene Pederson, who was once LVX's chief financial officer, filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The Pedersons listed assets of $384,328 — mostly from a home they own in St. Cloud — and liabilities of $5.9 million.

Many creditors in both the corporate and personal bankruptcies are the same.

Last month, Felicity-John and Irene Pederson applied to Stearns County District Court to change their last names to "Saint John."

The name change "has nothing to do with business," Pederson said. "This a completely personal matter between the family. It has been planned for years."