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SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Blasts Off From Florida
An anonymous reader writes After two months of delays, SpaceX was successful today with its launch of six Orbcomm telecommunications satellites. All six satellites have been successfully deployed in orbit. The 375-pound satellites will offer two-way data links to help customers track, monitor and control transportation and logistics assets, heavy equipment, oil and gas infrastructure, ships and buoys, and government-owned equipment. From the article: "SpaceX plans to use Monday's launch to test a landing system it is developing to fly its rockets back to the launch site for refurbishment and reuse. During Falcon 9's last flight in April, the first stage successfully restarted some of its engines as it careened toward the ocean, slowing its descent. The rocket also was able to deploy stabilizing landing legs before toppling over in the water. The booster, however, was destroyed by rough seas before it could be retrieved by recovery ships. Monday's launch was the 10th flight of Falcon 9 rocket, all of which have been successful."
Oh, fuck off, SpaceX. Reaganomics squeezes NASA to the point that it can barely produce anything of value, and now we have a businessman leeching off the equipment and knowledge created by the public sector, feeding into the free market fantasy with a cheap first hit.
Boeing was once a cheap innovator too, you know. Actually, no, Boeing was once the producer which government wanted to buy into. SpaceX is nothing more than an artifice of ideology - it produced nothing on its own to have made it worthy of initial sponsorship.