SpaceX Announces Bigger Rocket

bullitB writes "SpaceX, a commercial developer of rocket systems, has announced a new Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) class rocket. Dubbed the Falcon 9, the rocket will be able to launch nearly 25 metric tons into low earth orbit for a mere $78 million. It looks like they have already signed up Bigelow Aerospace for a launch in 2008."

Comments

May?

[ethank]

I thought they were supposed to launch their smaller rocket in May? The technology sounds cool (I saw the rocket in the spring actually in LA), but its been oft delayed. I wish we could just see it fly.

Re:May?

[cheesybagel]

The first Falcon I was scheduled to launch September 30 from Kwajalein Atoll. Now they are saying fall this year, so uh...

I certainly hope they have a successful launch this year, otherwise I wonder for how long they can keep bleeding money like this.

We're gonna need a traffic cop

[Anonymous Coward]

If I did my math right ($1500/pound), that means that even individuals could afford to put a tiny satellite in orbit. That could mean a huge increase in the amount of junk orbiting the planet. Given that NASA now has to track even quite small objects; what a nusance for them.

SpaceX is An Exciting Company

[THotze]

... in a very boring way.

While not grabbing the headlines the way the X-Prize and specifically, Burt Rutan and later Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic did (and do), SpaceX has started to very quietly put togehter what looks like the first credible competition to the entrenched commercial space industry as it now stands.

Even though they have suffered setbacks of late and therefore, haven't launched a rocket to space yet, it looks like they've got all the technology there to do so. They've also got Pentagon contracts, which means that they've got the backing to cut through the red tape.

If SpaceX is successful, it will force Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Arienespace (and to an extent, Russian rocket mfgs) to really rethink their development and pricing strategy.

"So what, they're not manned?" I get your point. But if they can REALLY LAUNCH 25,000kg to space for $78m dollars by the end of the decade, it will mean that suddenly, we'll have a price-competitive launch industry. I'm talking companies undercutting each other price wise, speeding up development of better, bigger rockets, and actually, maybe, being innovative with rocket and satellite development. It could even spark the kind of rapid progress we saw in aviation in the 1910's.

Suddenly, there's competition in space for the first time since the US and Russia in the 1960's.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for passenger spaceflight, but SpaceX is putting together interesting technology at good prices that could spark the kind of 'rapid evolution' that the industry needs, filling an existing market with a much cheaper product. It'll be exciting to see where they go with this new design, and if they can actually pull it off in just a couple years.

Tim

Re:SpaceX is An Exciting Company

[Baddas]

You could very nearly fit an apollo-style lander module in that much weight. 40,000kg or so was the gross weight for the saturn C-5. Certainly, one could do manned spaceflight on a 25,000kg budget, although probably not much fun, and of course neglecting the aspects of safety and reliability of the Falcon rockets (presumably important... :D )

Good for them.

[FlyByPC]

It's time we started getting serious about space exploration and developing an infrastructure to expand. Earth is getting more crowded every year, and while colonization of other worlds may not be a practical answer, industrialization of, say, the Asteroid Belt may provide a lot of resources. Space-based solar power, constructed with the plentiful materials available in space, might help make life down here easier.

Capitalism isn't the answer to everything, but I'm hoping SpaceX, Scaled Composites, and the rest are right that it's the answer to getting a real space development industry going.

Garbage Disposal

[RazorX90]

25 metric tons...does this mean we are one step closer to start launching our garbage into the sun?

Re:Garbage Disposal

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah, who needs a landfill when you have a huge solar incinerator?

Wonderful!

[BerntB]

If I did my math right ($1500/pound), that means that even individuals could afford to put a tiny satellite in orbit.

This means that university departments can get instruments anywhere in the solar system.

A company can start selling a package like:

"Send us a planet name and an orbit description, we will return a price list with delivery dates; specials if you want your home made instruments sent".

What the world would have been like if this had happened when NASA promised it in the 70s... :-(

(And, yes, we have to start thinking seriously on junk in orbit.)

Re:Wonderful!

[BerntB]

Oh, my old U already did.. years ago. :-)

I wrote department. If most every research group can launch what they need, then it is a different situation. It is a quality change, not a quantity.

Re:I think SpaceX must be compensating for somethi

[cheesybagel]

I guess their problem is that existing clients have satellites which are too big for their current launchers, so they cannot capture that market. Their new designs at 9650kg to GTO max put them right there with the big boys, including Ariane 5 ECA and most EELVs. The 3400kg for the smallest Falcon 9 is respectable, although it could be better. I suppose they tried to make the Falcon 9 base smaller because, as announced, they intend to reuse its first stage for Falcon 5 with less engines.

I will hold my breath until they have a successful Falcon I launch however.