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↓ Keeping temporal tag in place as information is still coming through on what happened. -->
The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation ('''SpaceX''') is a Space-transportation Startup Company founded by Elon Musk . Its stated goal is to improve the cost and reliability of access to Space "ultimately by a factor of ten". It is based in El Segundo , California , USA. SpaceX is developing a family of partially reusable Two-stage Kerosene – Liquid-oxygen Launch Vehicle s. BACKGROUND SpaceX was founded in June 2002 by CEO / CTO Elon Musk , who had also co-founded Startup Companies Zip2 and PayPal . As Of March 2006 he had invested about $100,000,000 of his personal wealth in SpaceX. Although Musk has stated that he could financially handle two early-launch failures, he also has said "If we have three consecutive failures {Link without Title} it's not clear to me that we know what we're doing and maybe we should go out of business." The company has grown from approximately 160 employees in November 2005, 1 to 350 employees in August 2007. 2 The launch crew in the Marshall Islands comprises 25 persons, with 6 in mission control. This small number of employees, when compared to other companies that produce similarly sized rockets, is part of the cost reduction that Musk is trying to achieve. He sees other rocket manufacturers as providing space-launch services at an unreasonably high price to support an unnecessary bureaucracy. LAUNCHER VERSIONS LAUNCHES Maiden test flight of Falcon 1 prototype.]] at Space Launch Complex—Three West (SLC-3W), Vandenberg Air Force Base.]] On November 26 , 2005 , the first launch attempt was scrubbed because of weather and ground-related holds. On December 19 , 2005 , a second scrub occurred when a faulty valve caused the first-stage kerosene tank to deform during an unfueling maneuver. Subsequently, the launch tower was redesigned to reduce liquid-oxygen boil-off and to avoid wind-related holds. On February 10 , 2006 , further static testing led to a delay for an unspecified cause. On March 17 and March 22 , before the maiden flight, two static firings were performed in order to validate the rocket hardware and launch procedures. The Falcon 1 maiden flight was originally scheduled for 21:00 , 25 March), from Omelek Island , in the Kwajalein Atoll . After 29 seconds of flight (T plus 00:00:29), the main engine failed, leading to loss of the vehicle soon thereafter. High-resolution photography of the launch shows the engine on fire during ascent. An investigation of the cause of the propulsion failure conducted by SpaceX and DARPA determined that corrosion on an aluminum nut led to failure resulting in a fuel leak. Corrective actions being taken include replacing similar nuts with welds where possible and with stainless steel where welding is not possible.3 It should be noted that early failures for a space launch vehicle have been typical; the first two launches of Ariane 5 did not succeed (although the second Ariane 5 launch did deliver its payload to a stable orbit and was therefore considered a partial success/failure), for instance. The company provided a live Webcast of the flight from various launchpad cameras, with mission-control voiceover. The webcast showed water-dump, ignition, and pad liftoff. The view switched to an onboard camera, with the atoll clearly receding in the background. About 40 seconds into the flight, the webcast ceased. The 19.5- Kilogram (43- Pound ) United States DARPA payload FalconSAT-2 was built by United States Air Force Academy cadets to investigate the phenomenon known as "space weather", or Plasma in the Upper Atmosphere . The planned orbit was 450 Kilometer s (280 Mile s). Second test flight of Falcon 1 The second Falcon 1 launched a demonstration payload to return data on the booster's performance, however it failed to reach orbit. The second stage was shut down about a minute and a half before schedule (T+ 7:30) due to a control issue. 4 SpaceX later stated that "The second stage was otherwise functioning well and even deployed the satellite mass simulator ring at the end of flight! Actual final velocity was 5.1 km/s or 11,000 mph, whereas 7.5 km/s or 17,000 mph is needed for orbit." The first launch attempt was targeted for 2300 , 20 March 2007), the vehicle separated from the first stage booster and fairing at approximately 6:14 PST. |
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