BOULDER - After about a year of back-and-forth with the government, David Belaga finally has the licensure to produce a hydration drink originally developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Belaga, president and chief executive officer of Wellness Brands Inc. in Boulder, sifted through pages of NASA-developed technologies before coming across the hydration technology designed to rehydrate astronauts and keep them performing at their peak.

"When I came across this patent it was quite clear ... that hydration was going to be a huge opportunity," he said.

The license agreement was finalized in May after a year of submitting business plans, negotiating with the government, waiting throughout the public comment period, more negotiations and an internal review process.

"We are new, ripe, green, whatever you want to call it," he said.

And since May, like all early-stage startup companies, Belaga is working to create a buzz around his concentrated hydration drink.

His energy drink, The Right Stuff, comes in a half-ounce electrolyte-heavy liquid and should be mixed with at least 16 ounces of water, juice or any other beverage of choice.

"This is a specific full-hydration oriented product," he said. "Most of the sports products out there have carbohydrates for energy as well as electrolytes. This product contains no carbohydrates."

John Greenleaf, the former NASA researcher who invented The Right Stuff's technology, said the formula allows people to retain more water.

About 20 years ago he concocted a plan to help prevent serious dehydration when astronauts re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. Astronauts' dehydration was often debilitating - partly due to lack of salt in the body.

"Salt depletion in the body can lead to cramps. It can lead to all kinds of undesirable things," Greenleaf said.

So after about five years of testing in the early 1990s, he found a formula that worked and it was patented.

That drink formula is one attribute that's helped the company propel from the one or two orders per day Belaga expected to dozens per day he's been receiving lately.

Unless orders drastically increase, the company's president said he should have enough products to last through August.

Those orders, for now, are only coming in via the company's Web site. However, Belaga said he's hoping to partner with bike-, ski- and triathlon-oriented shops to sell The Right Stuff in retail stores.

And he's also hoping to partner with a distributor by the end of the summer.

Though Belaga's the only full-time employee, he has a board of advisers that includes former managers at companies like The Gatorade Company. And Belaga has a consumer products background that includes a stint at PepsiCo Inc. prior to the company's purchase of Gatorade.

Each small vile of liquid, which comes in a pack of three for $9 or a pack of 10 for $27, has a salty sweet taste and comes in one of three varieties: Citrus blend, wild berry and unflavored.

And while it's aimed at endurance athletes, because they'll notice the biggest difference, it's great for weekend warriors or the casual athlete as well, he said.

"The product is uniquely dedicated to hydration," Belaga said. "It's for training, it's for in-race loading and post-race rehydration."

Eric Erickson, a local recreational athlete who road bikes about 10 hours per week, usually three or more hours at a time, has been involved in taste testing and helping to develop The Right Stuff for the last seven months.

He said the concentrate doesn't taste like anything he's previously had. It tastes like lightly sweetened, mildly salty water, he said.

"It's definitely more toward salt water than it is toward Mountain Dew," he said.

He drinks it while on long bike rides to prevent from experiencing energy peaks and valleys.

"I can't tell why it works, but I absolutely can tell you it works," Erickson said. "I haven't experienced a quick rush with it. You never feel bad to begin with."

In the future, Belaga may even market it toward athletic clubs and sports teams by selling the concentrate in larger quantities, in addition to marketing the product to help eliminate hangovers, jet lag and more.

While Belaga wouldn't disclose the length of the NASA license, the financial terms of the deal or how much he spent to start his company, he said he'll write NASA an annual check for the licensure.

"They are paid an annual royalty as a percentage of sales with a guaranteed minimum," he said. And he added, "There is an upfront piece that I had to pay in order to get the license."

So far, he's invested "tens of thousands of dollars" to start the company and has raised money through friends and family, but Belaga said he'll likely start looking for angel investors before the end of the year.

He's also working to partner with various events, such as running races to promote his product and attend various trade shows to get the word out about his company.

"I'm absolutely open to everything," he said. "Unfortunately there's only 24 hours in a day."

Unlike business-to-business deals he's done in the past, Belaga said NASA's license procedure went fairly smoothly as one of its missions is to commercialize the technology it develops.

"Partnering with NASA was one of the most pleasurable experiences I had," he said.