Aero-TV Special Report: Exceeding Expectations - SpaceX Falcon 9 Is In Orbit!

Successful Liftoff Signals Spectacular Start To Grueling Test Program

Friday, June 4th, 2010, is a not a day that ANN and Aero-TV are likely to forget... after an early morning flight down in our Cirrus to prep for our launch coverage and a long hot day of great expectations, SpaceX' mighty Falcon 9 roared to life at 1445 and entered the history books.

Even SpaceX Founder Elon Musk only gave this first launch a 75% chance of success. In a conference call with reporters Thursday, about 24 hours before the scheduled launch, CEO Musk said commercial space exploration is "the only way forward." Musk said relying on massive government programs would require massive increases in the space budget, and "we'll never do anything interesting in space."

SpaceX and NASA are in discussions concerning re-supply for the ISS, and Musk said that schedule has been moved up. The second Falcon 9 flight will be the first under the NASA COTS program. An empty Dragon capsule will be boosted to orbit on what is being called the "COTS 1" flight, but the plan for the "COTS 2" flight is now to carry non-critical cargo to the ISS. "COTS 3" is now on the schedule as a backup to COTS 2.

Musk said that part of his optimism about Friday's test launch is that Falcon 9 shares many components with the smaller Falcon 1 rocket, but he re-iterated that first flights have about a 50-50 success rate. "The first successful Atlas flight was on flight 13," Musk said, "and the Atlas V is arguably now the most reliable vehicle in the U.S. fleet."

The optimism was deserved... barely nine minutes aloft in its first test, Falcon 9 took up a 250 km circular orbit that was within 1% of forecast spec and not only brought this first experimental flight to a successful conclusion but set the bar for all other commercial launch endeavors to follow. SpaceX is on its way... and the heavens are no limit where this company and its mission are concerned.

Copyright 2010, Aero-News Network, Inc., All Rights Reserved

FMI: www.spacex.com, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• SpaceX
• Falcon9
• Dragon
• Maiden Voyage
• Falcon 9
• Elon Musk
• Falcon 9 achieves orbit
• Falcon 9 Launch
• Falcon 9 Rocket Launch
• SpaceX Falcon 9
• Rocket
• Future space travel
• James Grosser
• Aerospace
• space travel
• Privately funded space travel
• AeroTV
• Aero-TV
• Aero-News Network
• aero
• news
• network
• tv
• pilot
• plane
• airplane
• aircraft
• aviation
• ISS

[aerotvnetwork]

Don't miss our interview with Elon Musk from the launch site ground breaking in November of 2007.

[Conservativepacheat]

u.s pride we can do it ourselfs

[Zoomer30]

When you look up Atlas it means "blows up.... A lot". The fact that a rocket that really had no reason to clear the beach on flight one hit orbit is flabbergasting. You almost wish for some issue just so you know it was nit just "luck"

[rlewis1946]

Nice piece! Good reporting. Do you know what the status of the Dragon is now that it's in orbit? During ascent there was second stage telemetry received. Is there any telemetry currently being received from either the second stage or the Dragon? I haven't found any status report on the SpaceX website.

Thanks, keep up the good work!

RL Atlanta, GA USA

[murdelabop]

@applesweeter

1) Because it is the nature of mankind to explore. It's what we do. We have already colonized every habitat on Earth, and with the exception of certain small areas there is nowhere left on Earth for us to go. Going into space is our next logical step.

2) Because we want to watch the whole process, and get as much information as possible. .

[applesweeter]

Dear All,

I have some questions about psychology:

(1) Why do we love space travel and space exploration?

(2) Why do we feel excited for viewing different stages of rocket launch?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE for your creative ideas and brainstorm!!! :)