As reported by the Christian Science Monitor: The private spaceflight company SpaceX
launched six commercial satellites into low-Earth orbit on July 14th in a mission that was expected to include a key rocket-reusability
test.
The company's Falcon 9 rocket streaked into space from
the pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 11:15 a.m. EDT
(1515 GMT) Monday, carrying six spacecraft for the
satellite-communications firm ORBCOMM.
The
satellites are the first members of the OG2 (short for "ORBCOMM
Generation 2") constellation, which should provide a big upgrade over
the current OG1 network, company officials said. SpaceX is expected to launch a total of 17 OG2 craft using the Falcon 9. [See photos of the SpaceX launch]
The OG2 satellites, which weigh about 375 lbs. (170 kilograms)
each, were built by Sierra Nevada Corp. They're destined for an
elliptical orbit that will take them between 382 and 466 miles (615 to
750 kilometers) above Earth's surface.
A successful delivery of the OG2 satellites
may have been the main objective of Monday's launch, but it wasn't the
only one. SpaceX also aimed to bring the Falcon 9's first stage back to
Earth in a soft ocean-splashdown, to test out and advance
reusable-rocket technology. It was not clear immediately after liftoff
how well this test went.
Developing fully and rapidly reusable
launch vehicles is a key priority of SpaceX's billionaire founder Elon
Musk, who has said that this breakthrough could slash the cost of
spaceflight by a factor of 100. In doing so, reusable rockets could help
open the solar system for manned exploration, perhaps even making a Mars colony economically feasible.
SpaceX
attempted a similar first-stage return during the last Falcon 9 liftoff
in April, which blasted the robotic Dragon capsule toward the
International Space Station on a cargo mission for NASA. That test went
well; data showed that the rocket stage did indeed make a controlled
landing in the Atlantic Ocean, though rough seas destroyed it before
recovery boats could reach the splashdown scene.
Monday's launch
was originally planned for May 10, but the cancellation of a pre-launch
Falcon 9 static-fire test and scheduling constraints pushed the liftoff
back by about two months. The launch also comes on the heels of SpaceX
receiving certification from the U.S. Air Force of its Falcon 9 rocket
after three successful flights, a major step in the company's plan to
compete for U.S. military satellite launch contracts.
No comments:
Post a Comment