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Fourth time's a charm for SpaceX |
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Written by Derek Kessler on
Thursday, 02 October 2008
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 After three failed launch attempts, SpaceX’s two-stage Falcon 1 rocket finally made it into orbit, marking the first time that a private enterprise has launched its own orbital craft. Founded by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, SpaceX has for six years been lining up financing for its continued operations, even in the face of repeated failures. The 21-meter (68-ft) rocket carried a 165 kg (364 lb) dummy payload to an orbit between 500 and 700 km (312-437 mile) above the Earth.
The Falcon 1 launched on Sunday at 7:15 pm EDT from the US Army’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean some 4000 km (2500 miles) southwest of Hawaii. The launch occurred less than a month after an error with engine timing destroyed the third Falcon 1 rocket well into its launch.
The Falcon 1, which is capable of carrying up to 570 kg (1256 lbs) into orbit, is the first in a family of Falcon rockets being developed by SpaceX. Their heavy-lift Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for a launch test in summer 2009 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX is also developing a stronger heat shield so that the rocket’s first stage can attain full reusability, thus further lowering operating costs. It currently costs $8 million to build one Falcon 1 rocket, but up to this point, SpaceX has spent $100 million in development and launch costs. Early next year a fifth Falcon 1 will be launched with a Malaysian communications satellite on board.
The 165 kg dummy satellite that the Falcon 1 lofted into orbit has been nicknamed “Ratsat” by the SpaceX team (and painted with a rat logo), and is expected to stay in orbit for five to ten years.
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"There is an old Vulcan proverb - "Only Nixon could go to China.""
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