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SpaceX developing low-cost launch vehicle for
space travel A small El Segundo, Calif., company is developing a launch vehicle it says would reduce substantially the cost of launching satellite payloads and humans into space. Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, is developing a two-stage, liquid hydrogen/kerosene launch vehicle capable of launching satellite payloads into low-earth orbit for about $ 6 million per launch, according to company founder Elon Musk. The two-stage, aluminum-hull vehicle measures 70 feet long and 5.5 feet wide. It is intended to be capable of launching payloads weighing between .5 tons and 1.5 tons to low-earth orbit. "We've made quite a bit of progress" on developing the vehicle, said Musk, who founded SpaceX in June 2002 after a feasibility study showed that developing a low-cost launch vehicle in the U.S. could be done without compromising reliability. Company engineers already have designed and built the vehicle's main engine, which achieved full thrust last month, Musk said. Work on the recoverable first stage of the vehicle and the payload fairing and avionics suite also are nearly complete, he said. Engineers still are testing the guidance software, however, and the expendable first stage of the vehicle still is being manufactured. "We should be firing our main engine in a flight configuration probably around the end of June, and the second-stage engine in flight configuration around the end of July," Musk said. With the exception of a few small items, work on the vehicle should be completed by the end of October, he said. Launch agreements have been signed with the U.S. Air Force to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., Musk said. So far, two customers have expressed interest in using the launch vehicle,
called the Falcon. The first, a Defense Department customer interested
in launching a military satellite payload, has expressed "verbal
interest," Musk said. That could translate into a written agreement
in the next few days, he added. The second customer, a friendly foreign
government, already has signed a launch agreement. "As the vehicle
becomes more and more real, particularly after the first launch, I think
we'll have no trouble manifesting anywhere between three to five launches
per year," he said. The real goal of developing the vehicle is to rekindle public interest in space travel, particularly to Mars, Musk said. "Initially, we're obviously very satellite focused," Musk said. "But long-term, we have a strong interest in human space flight as well." The idea of developing a low-cost launch vehicle began after company engineers and scientists determined it is possible to conduct a biological experiment on the Martian surface for around $ 20 million. The mission would involve launching a lander that carries plant seeds embedded in a dehydrated nutrient gel. Soon after landing, the seeds would hydrate and grow into plants. "The thought was that this might appeal to the general public because it would be the farthest that life has traveled, and the first life on Mars," Musk said. The only problem was the cost of the launch. Launches aboard the Delta II, the cheapest U.S. launch vehicle capable of carrying the payload, cost at least $ 50 million, Musk said, and so the idea of developing the Falcon was born. Musk said he hopes to develop a second, heavier-lift version of the Falcon
in about five years that would use the same avionics package and upper
stage engine.
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