 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
SpaceX Plans Next Falcon Launch Attempt This Week
El Segundo CA (SPX) Mar 19, 2006 SpaceX said it plans to attempt a launch of its Falcon 1 this week. In a statement, Elon Musk, the company's founder and chief executive officer, said the rocket has been removed from its hangar and erected on the launch pad. "All systems are currently go for a ... launch between March 20 and 25," Musk said. The launch plan is to accelerate the two-stage Falcon 1 to Mach 25, or 17,000 miles per hour, in less than 10 minutes, powered by liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene. If successful, the flight will be the first privately developed, liquid fueled rocket to reach orbit and the world's first all-new orbital rocket in over a decade. The main Merlin engine will be the first all-new U.S. hydrocarbon-powered engine for an orbital booster flown in 40 years, and only the second new U.S. booster engine of any kind in 25 years. Falcon 1 is currently the only semi-reusable orbital rocket in the world, apart from NASA's space shuttle. Priced at $6.7 million, Falcon 1 will provide the lowest cost per flight to orbit of any launch vehicle in the world. The maiden flight will take place from the Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands. The customer for this mission is DARPA and the U.S. Air Force. The payload will be FalconSat-2, part of the Air Force Academy's satellite program to measure space plasma, which can adversely affect space-based communications, including GPS and other civil and military communications. The rocket's target orbit is between 400 kilometers and 500 kilometers (250 miles to 300 miles), or just above the orbit of the International Space Station and at an inclination of 39 degrees. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SPACEX Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com
LockMart Close Match Between APKWS II Sims And Results Of Guided Flight
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 15, 2006Lockheed Martin is competing for a U.S. Army requirement to develop and produce a 2.75-inch guided rocket, a program that could potentially exceed $2 billion. Lockheed Martin's completion of its post-flight analyses of the first guided flight of its candidate for the U.S. government's Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) indicates success in all test objectives, with a high correlation between simulations and the trajectory. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
