Posted: Mon, Sep 12, 2005, 7:15 AM ET (1115 GMT)
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) announced last week that it has signed a contract for a new large rocket that will compete head-to-head with the largest expendable rockets on the market today. The Falcon 9 will be to place 9,500 kilograms into low Earth orbit in its baseline configuration for $27-35 million a launch; a heavy version will be able to launch up to 25,000 kilograms for $78 million. The company said it had already signed a contract with an unspecified government customer for a Falcon 9 launch in 2007. The Falcon 9, which uses nine engines in its first stage, will take development precedence over the Falcon 5, a medium-class vehicle that SpaceX announced in late 2003. SpaceX still plans to develop the Falcon 5 and make it available to customers in late 2007. SpaceX said that both the Falcon 5 and Falcon 9 are designed to be fully reusable, although that reusability is not factored into the launch costs the company has quoted. The first launch of the company's original launcher, the Falcon 1, is scheduled for the end of this month from Kwajalein.

Related Links:

•  SPACE.com article
•  Wall Street Journal article (subscription required)
•  SpaceX press release