Boxy
07-28-2009, 01:01 PM
A Malaysian satellite rode a Falcon 1 rocket into orbit Monday night [July 13], marking the first time the privately-developed booster has successfully launched an operational spacecraft.
The 70-foot-tall rocket was making its fifth flight. Three of its four previous launches failed, dooming two small military satellites.
But SpaceX, the California-based company that developed the launcher, scored its second straight success Monday, almost nine months after the Falcon 1 first reached orbit last year.
"We nailed the orbit to well within target parameters, pretty much a bullseye," Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, told Spaceflight Now.
(source) (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon/005/index.html)
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Falcon 1, SpaceX's little rocket that could, has broken the governmental satellite monopoly that has gripped Earth since Sputnik's launch in 1958. The forty-ton rocket barreled into orbit the night of July 13th and delivered its payload into a near-equatorial orbit. The payload, an imaging satellite for Malaysia, will provide much more reliable photographs of the sprawling island nation -- some of the most recent photos available are years out of date.
SpaceX has been notable for disclosing its launch prices to the public. The most recent price puts the Falcon 1 at a hefty price tag of $7 million USD. The payload to LEO is only 670 kg, which turns out to be a little over $10,000 per kilogram. The Space Shuttle, in comparison, averages roughly $55,000 per kilogram.
SpaceX's next step along this line is the launch of the Falcon 1e model, which will have a payload of 1010 kg to LEO at a price of $8.5 million USD, for a cost per kilogram of $8,400. It hopes to have its maiden flight by early next year, although launch delays have plagued the company. The satellite launched just last week was supposed to be orbital five years ago.
SpaceX is getting ready to roll out its Falcon 9 rocket for a maiden flight next year. This time, however, launch delays could cost SpaceX a windfall in NASA funding. The company had won a bid to supply NASA's cargo and crew resupply duties when NASA doesn't have a launch platform of its own, as the Space Shuttle is retiring next year and won't have the Crew Exploration Vehicle ready for duty until at least 2015. The total deal may very well be worth at least a billion dollars.
SpaceX is the best-developed commercial enterprise as a launch vehicle. If they prove capable of delivering their promise of reducing launch costs to one-tenth their pre-SpaceX value, we may very well see rapid space development within the next decade.
What think you, gentle Earthlings?
The 70-foot-tall rocket was making its fifth flight. Three of its four previous launches failed, dooming two small military satellites.
But SpaceX, the California-based company that developed the launcher, scored its second straight success Monday, almost nine months after the Falcon 1 first reached orbit last year.
"We nailed the orbit to well within target parameters, pretty much a bullseye," Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, told Spaceflight Now.
(source) (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon/005/index.html)
-----
Falcon 1, SpaceX's little rocket that could, has broken the governmental satellite monopoly that has gripped Earth since Sputnik's launch in 1958. The forty-ton rocket barreled into orbit the night of July 13th and delivered its payload into a near-equatorial orbit. The payload, an imaging satellite for Malaysia, will provide much more reliable photographs of the sprawling island nation -- some of the most recent photos available are years out of date.
SpaceX has been notable for disclosing its launch prices to the public. The most recent price puts the Falcon 1 at a hefty price tag of $7 million USD. The payload to LEO is only 670 kg, which turns out to be a little over $10,000 per kilogram. The Space Shuttle, in comparison, averages roughly $55,000 per kilogram.
SpaceX's next step along this line is the launch of the Falcon 1e model, which will have a payload of 1010 kg to LEO at a price of $8.5 million USD, for a cost per kilogram of $8,400. It hopes to have its maiden flight by early next year, although launch delays have plagued the company. The satellite launched just last week was supposed to be orbital five years ago.
SpaceX is getting ready to roll out its Falcon 9 rocket for a maiden flight next year. This time, however, launch delays could cost SpaceX a windfall in NASA funding. The company had won a bid to supply NASA's cargo and crew resupply duties when NASA doesn't have a launch platform of its own, as the Space Shuttle is retiring next year and won't have the Crew Exploration Vehicle ready for duty until at least 2015. The total deal may very well be worth at least a billion dollars.
SpaceX is the best-developed commercial enterprise as a launch vehicle. If they prove capable of delivering their promise of reducing launch costs to one-tenth their pre-SpaceX value, we may very well see rapid space development within the next decade.
What think you, gentle Earthlings?