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Space X Falcon 1 Successfully In Orbit

by Nancy Atkinson on September 28, 2008

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The commercial spaceflight company Space X successfully launched its Falcon 1 unmanned booster, becoming the first private company to send a rocket into orbit. The two-stage rocket lifted off at 7:16 p.m. EDT (23:16 GMT) from the the launch site on the Kwajalein Atoll in the about 2,500 miles (4,023 km) southwest of Hawaii. This successful launch comes almost two months after an engine timing error during stage separation caused the failure of Space X’s third Falcon 1 test. If you missed watching the live webcast, below is the video. Watching the live webcast was wonderful; the people who actually built this rocket could be heard cheering in the background as each milestone in the climb to orbit was reached. Congratulations to everyone at Space X!

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Falcon 1 rocket. Credit: Space X
After the Falcon 1 reached orbit, an elated Elon Musk, Space X CEO told his cheering employees, “As the saying goes, the fourth time’s the charm.” He said this is just the first step for Space X, and added “This is one of the best days of my life.”

SpaceX’s first three attempts to launch the Falcon 1 all failed, with different problems occurring on each try. But today, after a uneventful countdown, the two-stage rocket operated flawlessly, bringing a dummy payload to Earth orbit. “This was the smoothest launch countdown of all,” Musk said. “It just shows the team is getting more and more practice at this.”

The Falcon 1 is a two stage, liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) powered launch vehicle. It is designed from the ground up by Space X, with no government assistance. Space X has about 500 employees.

As winner of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) competition, SpaceX is designing and building the Falcon 9 human-rated launch vehicle and Dragon spaceship to transport cargo and then astronauts to the International Space Station.

Space X’s mission is to provide launch vehicles at low cost and high reliability. This success could be the beginning of a new era in spaceflight.

Source: Space X

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About

Nancy Atkinson is Universe Today's Senior Editor. She also is the host of the NASA Lunar Science Institute podcast and works with the Astronomy Cast and 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts. Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador.

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  • http://www.chriscoles.com Chris Coles

    When I devised, with the admirable help of Alan Jefferson, The Space Chronometre

    http://www.jstor.org/pss/1575232

    I set out to describe a venture that would provide GMT time to everyone on the planet. At the time, (no pun intended), there was great acrimony from astronomers who objected to any reflective object in low earth orbit as such objects would damage their view of the heavens above us all.

    That was a long time ago.

    I applaud this new venture. It sets out to reduce the cost to orbit for EVERYONE, regardless of whether or not they are “private” of “government”.

    If we turn back to the origins of the United States, (I must point out immediately that I am a British inventor), the great strides were made not by the government, but by the settlers that risked everything to bypass the government Forts and go out into the wilderness and set up their homesteads in the dark continent.

    It was these pioneers that made the United States what it is today. So trying to diminish the success of the Space X falcon 1 by suggesting that it all would be better in the hands of the “government” is a travesty of the history of your fine nation.

    Go out and pioneer, fail even, but in that failure lies the great success of all humanity who follow and try again and again, eventually to succeed against all costs and expectations.

    Go for it Space X, my heart goes with you all.

  • Robert

    I’m sad this remarkable feat was given last billing out of eight stories on today’s mailing.

    The launch of one of these Falcon’s cost between 8 and 12 million dollars- what would “public” NASA have had to have charged for this? Not to mention that it was launched some 2500 miles SW of Hawaii because excessive and over-burdensome regulation prevents this activity here at home.

    I’ve watched the govt. give NASA just enough $s to survive but not enough to accomplish any truly great things in orbit, on the moon nor Mars.

    In the late 60′s and into the 70′s we (school kids) were mesmerized at the neat animated, artist’s impressions of what we would be doing in those far off places in the 80′s and through to beyond the turn of the century.

    We could see how we could live on giant, rotating habitat wheels, beaming power back down to Earth collected from mile long banks of solar collectors.

    On vacation we could visit a colony on the moon, and then drive an enclosed, lunar ATV to view jagged peaks of barren mountains and craters with the gleaming domes of the colony below. And we could marvel as the mass drivers sent yet another load of ore/goods up to orbit.

    If we studied and worked hard it wasn’t too much of a stretch to think that we’d be rewarded with a chance to be on the team planting the flag and settling on some level piece of ground on the equitorial regions of Mars. Or have enough of a stake to fund our own asteroid mining operation (my favorite).

    Well, I’m 45 now, and there ain’t much of a chance of me doing any of that. But I want to make darn sure my kids have a chance to. Thank you Space X, Rutan, Branson, and Bigelow for what you are doing!

  • RetardedFishFrog

    Hi Jorge,

    I looked up Godwin’s Law – very interesting and also funny that I stumbled into what seems to be a discussion posting faux pas. However, I don’t think my comments quite satisfy Godwin’s Law since I wasn’t trying to flame you. I was trying to make a valid point. You were inexplicably bad mouthing a tremendous private sector accomplishment while lauding the public sector as if it were always superior to the private sector and additionally, that any success in the private sector would detract from the public sector. Would you rip on Jobs and Wozniak because they invented the Apple computer in their garage? Did that detract from the University of Illinois National Center for Supercomputing Applications?

    I would posit that your postings come closer to satisfying Godwin’s law – in spirit – because they were not just wrong, but then you started on “right wing” this and “neocon” that. If right wingers and neocons are your Nazis, then it was truly you who satisfied Godwin’s law.

    But, like Nancy said a few days ago – we need to lighten up.

    Amen to Chris Coles. It’s individuals who have the freedom to create and dream who are the entrepreneurs and innovators that will get us to space. This has been true in our past endeavors, and it’s true for Rutan, Branson, Bigelow, Diamandis and Space X.

  • dennis cottle

    Good on ya Spacex
    Well done

  • http://lampadamagica.blogspot.com Jorge

    LOL! Nice spin, retarded. Have you tried to get into politics? You might have some success in the republican camp, although the competition there is fierce. In that Spinsterland you’d have to try harder. Still you might get somewhere… ;)

    Of course, one of the corollaries of the Godwin’s law is that any possibility of a civilized discussion about the issues ends when the nazis step in, so I’m not going to discuss this with you, sorry.

  • Robert

    Jorge,

    Please take your political ravings elsewhere. While you are at it, study up on your history.

    Nazis were “Social Democrats”.

  • Space Fan

    Actually, Nazis were far-right corporatists who believed that the State and monopoly capital should be fused for the good of the country. That and they also believed in eugenics, social darwinism, racism, patriarchy, traditionalism, ultranationalism, etc. There is nothing really left about them other than one of the words in the name of their party. And “National Socialists” are not the same thing as “socialists” the same way Blair’s “New Labour” is not the same thing as the old Labour party.

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