posted 12-04-2003 09:39 PM               

SpaceX brought the entire seven-story high spacecraft and its mobile launch system to the nation's Capitol as part of the hundred-year anniversary of manned flight.

The Falcon rocket is notable for being:

• The first rocket with substantial reusability developed since the Space Shuttle launched over two decades ago. Once the Shuttle retires, it will be the world's only reusable rocket.

• A major breakthrough in the cost of access to space, with a price per flight to orbit over four times lower than its nearest American competitor.

• Designed from a "clean sheet" for reliable space transportation, compared to most existing launch vehicles, which have a comparatively low-reliability heritage as weapons systems.

posted 12-04-2003 10:03 PM               

Announcing the Falcon V Launch Vehicle from SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) today announced that it has a substantial upgrade to its Falcon rocket family under development and scheduled for completion in 2005.

Drawing from experience with the single engine Falcon I, being unveiled in Washington DC today, SpaceX is developing a five engine version that will be the first American rocket with true engine out safety in three decades. Depending upon the phase of flight, Falcon V will be capable of losing any three of the five engines and still complete its mission. Engine related problems are the overwhelming cause of launch vehicle failures.

Not since the Apollo program's Saturn V, developed over three decades ago, will there be this level of reliability available in the United States. Extremely rare among rockets, Saturn V had a flawless flight record, despite having an engine fail on two separate missions. Without engine out safety, the Apollo Moon program would have had two flight failures, possibly with tragic consequences.

The Falcon V also significantly increases the capability of the Falcon family, with a capacity of over 4.5 tons to low orbit and a 10 foot (3.05 meter) diameter payload fairing. The vehicle is also capable of launching missions to geostationary orbit and the inner solar system, as well as carrying supplies to the International Space Station with the addition of a lightweight automated transfer vehicle.

With firm contract pricing set at $12 million per flight (2003 dollars), the $1500 cost per pound to orbit will represent a new world record in the cost of access to space.

posted 03-19-2007 10:59 AM            

The flight readiness review conducted tonight shows all systems are go for a launch attempt at 4pm California time (11pm GMT) tomorrow (Monday). The webcast can be seen at SpaceX.com and will start at T-60 minutes. Please check back for updates, as the launch will be postponed if we have even the tiniest concern.

posted 03-20-2007 05:14 PM               

The abort that occurred a few minutes before T-0 was triggered by our ground control software. It commanded a switchover of range telemetry from landline to radio, which took place correctly, however, because of the hardware involved, this transition takes a few hundred milliseconds. Before it had time to complete, our system verification software examined state and aborted.

Our simulations done beforehand all passed, because the simulator did not account for a hardware driven delay in the transition. We considered putting the vehicle into a safe state yesterday and updating the ground control software to make the very minor fix needed, but the safer course of action was to stand down.

Yesterday afternoon and evening (Kwaj time), our launch team updated the software to address the timing issue and verified that there were no similar problems elsewhere. We ran the software through several simulated countdowns and then once again with the rocket and range in the loop.

All systems are now go for launch with T-0 at 4pm California time today (Tues).

posted 03-20-2007 09:07 PM               

I think I would characterize this as a very good day for SpaceX. We successfully reached space and really retired all risk associated with the rocket.

• First stage performed "flawlessly";
  
• Stage separation went "very well";
  
• Second stage ignition was "almost perfect";
  
• "We did encounter... a roll control anomaly."
  
• "We didn't achieve the desired orbit... it is not in its intended orbit."
  
• The roll control anomaly caused the second stage to shut off prematurely.
  
• "We got to 300 kilometers."
  
• The likelihood is that the second stage "reentered after about half an orbit." (To be confirmed later tonight.)

posted 03-21-2007 01:42 AM               

The second test launch of Falcon 1 took place today at 6:10 pm California time. The launch was not perfect, but certainly pretty good. Given that the primary objectives were demonstrating responsive launch and gathering test data in advance of our first operational satellite launch later this year, the outcome was great. Operationally responsive (ie fast) launch has become an increasingly important national security objective, so demonstrating rapid loading of propellents and launch in less than an hour, as well as a rapid recycle following the first engine ignition are major accomplishments.

We retired almost all of the significant development risk items, in particular:

- 1st stage ascent past max dynamic pressure

- avionics operation in vacuum and under radiation

- stage separation

- 2nd stage ignition

- fairing separation

- 2nd stage nozzle/chamber at steady state temp in vacuum

Falcon flew far beyond the "edge" of space, typically thought of as around 60 miles. Our altitude was approximately 200 miles, which is just 50 miles below the International Space Station. The second stage didn't achieve full orbital velocity, due to a roll excitation late in the burn, but that should be a comparatively easy fix once we examine the flight data. Since it is impossible to ground test the second stage under the same conditions it would see in spaceflight, this anomaly was also something that would have been very hard to determine without a test launch.

All in all, this test has flight proven 95+ percent of the Falcon 1 systems, which bodes really well for our upcoming flights of Falcon 1 and Falcon 9, which uses similar hardware. We do not expect any significant delay in the upcoming flights at this point. The Dept of Defense satellite launch is currently scheduled for late Summer and the Malaysian satellite for the Fall.

I'd like to thank DARPA and the Air Force for buying the two test flights and helping us work through a number of challenges over the past year. I'd also like to express my appreciation for the efforts of the Kwajalein Army Range (Reagan Test Site) and we look forward to many more launches in the future.

Finally, thank you to everyone at SpaceX for working so hard to make this a great test. This is a big leap forward for commercial spaceflight!

posted 03-21-2007 10:08 AM            

I must admit that it is embarrassing to hear Elon say that the orbital flight is a success when it did not make orbit. It is also incredible that after losing his first 2 payloads he is ready for business and will not have another test flight.

posted 03-22-2007 10:04 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by art540:
I wonder if there was a nozzle burn through causing the roll? What was that red color? combustion gases?

---

posted 03-26-2007 03:20 PM            

While the impact observed during separation failed to damage the second stage engine's nozzle, the cause is currently being blamed on the vehicle's rotation being fives times higher than the expected maximum.

"The nozzle impact during stage separation occurred due to a much higher than expected vehicle rotation rate of about 2.5 deg/sec vs. the maximum expected of 0.5 deg/sec. As the 2nd stage nozzle exited the interstage, the first stage was rotating so fast that it smacked the niobium nozzle," Musk noted. "There was no apparent damage to the nozzle, which is not a big surprise given that niobium is tough stuff.

"The unexpectedly high rotation rate was due to not knowing the shutdown transient of the 1st stage engine (Merlin) under flight conditions. The actual shutdown transient had a very high pitch over force, causing five times the max expected rotation rate."

posted 04-23-2008 01:13 PM               

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract to SpaceX

NASA has awarded Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, a NASA Launch Services contract for the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launch vehicles.

The NASA Launch Services contracts are multiple awards to multiple launch service providers. Twice per year, there is an opportunity for existing and emerging domestic launch service providers to submit proposals if their vehicles meet the minimum contract requirements.

The contract is an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract where NASA may order launch services through June 30, 2010, for launches to occur through December 2012. Under the NASA Launch Services IDIQ contracts, the potential total contract value is between $20,000 and $1 billion, depending on the number of missions awarded.

The contract seeks a launch capability for payloads weighing 551 pounds or heavier into a circular orbit of 124 miles at an orbital inclination of 28.5 degrees. Payloads would be launched to support three NASA mission directorates: Science, Space Operations and Exploration Systems.

Because an IDIQ contract has been awarded to SpaceX, it can compete for NASA missions using the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launch vehicles as specified by the NASA Launch Services contract process.

NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center is responsible for program management. This award to SpaceX adds to the stable of launch vehicles available to NASA under previously awarded contracts. The original request for proposal was issued in 1999.

posted 06-09-2008 06:43 PM               

The small red octagon with the yellow '9' depicted on the lower left of the emblem is a miniature version of the Mercury-Atlas 9 souvenir patch:

Its inclusion is in reference to the flight of some of astronaut Gordon Cooper's remains aboard Falcon 1 as part of Celestis' The Explorers Flight.

posted 06-23-2008 08:14 PM               

The military informed SpaceX last week that mandatory support equipment and tracking stations in the Pacific Ocean are booked through the end of July, forcing officials to delay launch of the next Falcon 1 rocket, the company's founder said Friday.

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., said the U.S. Army range at Kwajalein Atoll will be busy with other activities for the next month.

"Launch is no sooner than late July to early August," Musk said. "We will use the time to do additional checkouts."

posted 08-02-2008 01:43 PM               

SpaceX Sets August 2 for Falcon 1 launch

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) has scheduled the launch of the Falcon 1 Flight 3 mission for Saturday, August 2nd. The launch window will open at 4:00 p.m. (PDT) / 7:00 p.m. (EDT) and remain open for five hours. If launch is delayed for any reason, SpaceX has range availability to resume countdown through August 5.

Lift-off of the vehicle will occur from SpaceXХs Falcon 1launch site at the Kwajalein Atoll, about 2500 miles southwest of Hawaii. Falcon 1 launch facilities are situated on Omelek Island, part of the Reagan Test Site (RTS) at United States Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) in the Central Pacific.

Designed from the ground up by SpaceX at headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., Falcon 1 is a two-stage, liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene powered launch vehicle. The first stage is powered by a single SpaceX Merlin 1C Regenerative engine Р flying for the first time on this Flight 3 mission. A Тhold before liftoffУ system enhances reliability by permitting all systems to be verified as functioning nominally before launch is initiated. The Falcon 1 second stage is powered by a single SpaceX Kestrel engine.

Falcon 1 is the first new orbital rocket in more than a decade. Merlin is the first new American hydrocarbon engine for an orbital booster to be flown in more than 40 years and only the second new American engine of any kind in more than a quarter century. After achieving orbit, Falcon 1 will be the first privately developed, liquid fuel rocket to orbit the Earth.

The primary customers for the Falcon 1 launch are the Department of Defense, Government of Malaysia and NASA. Falcon 1 is carrying a payload stack of three separating satellites that will orbit at an inclination of 9 degrees:

• The Trailblazer satellite was developed by SpaceDev of Poway, Calif., for the Jumpstart Program of DoDХs Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office, as a test platform to validate the hardware, software and processes of an accelerated microsatellite launch. Trailblazer is deployed from the Falcon 1 second stage shortly after the shut-down of the second stage engine, about 10 minutes into flight.

• Deploying four to eight minutes later will be two NASA small satellites: PRESat, a micro laboratory from NASAХs Ames Research Center, and then NanoSail-D, which will unfurl an ultra-thin solar sail, developed by NASAХs Marshall Space Flight Center, in collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center.

• The three separating satellites attach to the Falcon 1 second stage via the Secondary Payload Adaptor and Separation System, (SPASS), developed by ATSB, a company owned by the Government of Malaysia that develops and commercializes space technology. The SPASS was engineered by Space Access Technologies of Ashburn, Va.

SpaceX will provide live coverage of the Falcon 1 Flight 3 mission via webcast at: www.SpaceX.com. The webcast will begin 30 minutes prior to launch and will include mission briefings, live feeds and launch coverage from the launch site at the Kawjalein Atoll, as well as a special video tour of SpaceX facilities by Elon Musk, CEO and CTO.