Yay!! SpaceX has successfully launched a Malasian (razakSAT) satellite into orbit, becoming the first privately owned and designed launcher to do so: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon/005/ http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sfn-090713-falcon1-fifth-launch.html http://www.hobbyspace.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=13810 Previous flight info, and info on the Falcon 1: http://www.spacex.com/F1-004-summary.php http://www.spacex.com/falcon1.php Falcon 9 and Dragon info: http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.php http://www.spacex.com/dragon.php Fingers crossed for the first flight of Falcon 9 from the cape later on in the year!
This is awesome progress. They've definitely helped pave the way for commercial space flight. If anyone is interested, they've got a short replay on their website. After the first stage separation, you can see the engines begin to glow after they ignite. After they reacquire the signal during ascension, you get a really great shot of the engine as it glows bright red/yellow against the blackness of space. We just got one step closer to commercial cargo delivery to the ISS. -monkey
And commercially bought crew flights with Dragon... Could this mean the end for Ares 1? A man rated Falcon 9 would do the job, and you'd have none of the issues that seem to be dogging 'the shaft' You'd still need a heavy lifter though - whatever that may turn out to be (Ares V, Shuttle C, Jupiter)
Japan and Europe have provided the heavy lifting capabilities with the HTV and ATV, respectively. Right now there is a lot of attention on the Russian Space Program. When the Shuttle retires in 2010, we'll have a 5 year gap before Orion starts launching crew. During that time, NASA will have to rely on the Soyuz to ferry crew to and from the ISS. Dragon looks better and better with each day. One of the things Mike Griffin said before he left NASA was that NASA needs to get out of the cargo delivery business. I think he's right. NASA (and to a great extent, the Russians) gave us the technology to launch space craft reliably. We've done it enough times that it's almost become passe, and the only time NASA is mentioned in the American media is when something goes wrong. I think Mike Griffin had the right idea: Perhaps it's time we handed rocket launches to the private sector, and started working on something new. -monkey
I was always led to believe that the ISS was to be a dead stick in 2015. No more US involvement. Good to see someone stepping up. I am all in favor of Private Industry in Space. john
Nasa wants to de-orbit the ISS in 2015. Good luck to them. It's not theirs. It belongs to a whole lot of others who probably wont want to see that done. Private industry along with the ATV should take care of cargo, and possibly crewing also. So if Nasa want out that's their choice. As for concentrating on other things, such as what exactly? Return to moon? Sending humans to Mars? FTL drive?
Glad to hear that from SpaceX I hope this has started to give NASA a run for their money although I would like to see an Delta IV heavy lift off one day.
It's actually a very complicated political situation. To say that "NASA wants to de-orbit the ISS in 2015" is only one tiny part of the picture. The original plans for the ISS included de-orbiting the Station sometime around 2015, but that was part of the original design, agreed upon by all the partners. In addition, that assumed that we were already in a Station Complete configuration, and had been utilizing the ISS to its full capabilities for some time now. As it is, normal schedule shifts, as well as the grounding of the Shuttle fleet in the wake of the Columbia accident, have pushed the completion of the ISS back a significant amount. Remember, only the Shuttle had the capability to deliver the large modules. There are other concerns, as well. The US has invested more money and hardware in the ISS than any other country. As such, we own the largest stake in the multi-billion dollar complex. It would be incredibly naive to think that the US would just abandon the ISS while other countries moved in. The ISS will not remain in space forever. It has been up for over 10 years now, and it's not getting any younger. All of the countries involved will continue to utilize it to its full capability, but at some point it will be time to move on. At that time, the respective programs will make the decision together, as they have done throughout the history of the ISS. -monkey
