SpaceX Falcon 1 launch a success
Posted: Mon, Sep 29, 2008, 2:08 PM ET (1808 GMT)
After three failed launches since 2006, SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket successfully placed a payload in orbit Sunday night. The Falcon 1 rocket lifted off from Omelek Island, part of Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, at 7:15 pm EDT (2315 GMT) Sunday. The second stage, carrying a payload mass simulator that was designed to remain attached to the stage, achieved orbit about 10 minutes later. The stage is in an elliptical orbit of 500 by 700 kilometers with an inclination of 9.2 degrees, which the company said was exactly as planned. The launch took place less than two months after the previous attempt, which failed to reach orbit when the rocket's two stages reconnected after stage separation due to residual thrust from the first stage engine. The launch had been highly anticipated because of the company's promise to provide low-cost launch services, as well as its plans to develop more powerful rockets capable of carrying cargo and crewed spacecraft to the International Space Station. The next Falcon 1 launch, of the Malaysian remote sensing satellite RazakSAT, is scheduled for early next year.
After three failed launches since 2006, SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket successfully placed a payload in orbit Sunday night. The Falcon 1 rocket lifted off from Omelek Island, part of Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, at 7:15 pm EDT (2315 GMT) Sunday. The second stage, carrying a payload mass simulator that was designed to remain attached to the stage, achieved orbit about 10 minutes later. The stage is in an elliptical orbit of 500 by 700 kilometers with an inclination of 9.2 degrees, which the company said was exactly as planned. The launch took place less than two months after the previous attempt, which failed to reach orbit when the rocket's two stages reconnected after stage separation due to residual thrust from the first stage engine. The launch had been highly anticipated because of the company's promise to provide low-cost launch services, as well as its plans to develop more powerful rockets capable of carrying cargo and crewed spacecraft to the International Space Station. The next Falcon 1 launch, of the Malaysian remote sensing satellite RazakSAT, is scheduled for early next year.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, January 22
Colorado Springs leaders done fighting over Space Command
Colorado Springs Gazette — 5:00 am ET (1000 GMT) Space Force Southern HQ opens at Davis-Monthan
KVOA-TV Tucson — 4:58 am ET (0958 GMT) Space Forces Southern officially activated and will ‘be a force of good in the region’
Washington Examiner — 4:57 am ET (0957 GMT) Rocket Lab Neutron Test Update
Rocket Lab — 4:57 am ET (0957 GMT) Rocket Lab Suffers Neutron Setback
Aviation Week — 4:56 am ET (0956 GMT) |
