HOUSTON -- Samples of the Rockets' new logo are appearing on caps in Houston.

The Rockets are mailing about 800 caps with the team's new logo to business executives and potential suite buyers over the next week in boxes marked "Top Secret," the team said Tuesday.

The new design is supposed to resemble a rocket with twin exhaust trails.

"They are obviously trying to make a statement in the use of this graphic," said Paul Swangard, managing director of The Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. "On the surface I can see it having the brand equities of the Rockets. The name 'Rocket,' I can see that in there. I can see the upward movement of a team on the rise and a spacey connotation to it."

But Swangard said the team has to sell its new logo to 12-year-olds, not those in the sports marketing world.

Susan Newquest, Rockets manager of marketing communications, said the team has received positive feedback on the new logo.

"Everybody really likes it," she said.

The team is supposed to unveil a new uniform in September, Newquest said. The new design, which is still in the works, will feature a still-unannounced color scheme possibly featuring dashes of silver, white and black. A new scheme would be the franchise's fourth, following green-and-gold, red-and-gold and the current red-white-and-blue.

"The cynic says they have reinvented themselves more than once," Swangard said. "That is pretty aggressive by some standards."

Gone will be the pinstripes or the needle-nosed cartoon rocket that have been on the team's uniforms since 1995, prompting Charles Barkley to compare the look to that of a clown suit.

Team owner Leslie Alexander has approved the new logo, according to the Houston Chronicle, which first displayed the logo on its Web site Tuesday.