2010-02-23

SpaceX Falcon 9 Heads To The Pad

Private spaceflight took a step closer to becoming a reality on Saturday when Space Exploration Technologies, known as SpaceX, hoisted its Falcon 9 rocket on to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Founded by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, SpaceX is set to begin delivering cargo to the International Space Station as early as this summer, and depending on how successful tests are of the attached cargo carrier, the Dragon Module, SpaceX could be sending humans to the ISS as early as 2012.

Falcon 9 sits ready for tests at the pad

No date has been fixed yet for the launch, but May has been mentioned as a realistic target. Over the next few months SpaceX will perform extensive integration and fueling tests to ensure the rocket is ready to fly, and the results of these tests will be the deciding factor in the timing of the actual launch.

I think this is the right approach as this isn't a business that should be rushed or driven by the need for success visibility. The goal is to create a new launch platform and that in itself is no mean feat. We have been sadly lacking in our approach to space over the last few decades, mainly because of the pitiful spending on space programs by governments, so the establishment of a private space enterprise will give it a much needed boost. Government will always have to cut back on such things due to poorly framed and underexposed arguments for the benefits and need for space exploration, but the private sector can drive the market far beyond the limits of public spending. My only concern is that corporations have a horrible knack of bowing to the almighty profit motive at the expense of the core principles that brought them into existence, so I will watch how SpaceX develops very closely over the coming years. The excitement of a new launch platform will likely overcome any trepidation though.

Look forward to Spacers covering the progress of Falcon 9.

SpaceHead
Image credit: Chris Thompson/SpaceX
Digg this

0 comments: