Digital Sprocket

The El Segundo based rocket development company has a full plate this year, including three planned launches of their yet to be successful Falcon 1 booster. SpaceX is also continuing development of the Falcon 9 booster for NASA’s COTS program to create commercially viable cargo delivery service to the ISS.

All three Falcon 1 flights will launch from their facility on Omelek Island in the Kwajalein atoll. After the second attempted demonstration flight, which may launch as early as March 9, they plan to launch satellites for the US Navy Research Laboratory and for the Malaysian government in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.

NASA recently announced that on February 8 SpaceX gained approval for their first COTS orbital demonstration mission scheduled for September 2008. Though the initial $278 million contract is for the development of pressurized and unpressurized cargo delivery capabilities, SpaceX is looking beyond bulk cargo. The Dragon capsule they are developing will also be capable of conducting taxi missions to deliver crews to the ISS or other LEO destinations. With NASA’s commitment to purchase cargo and crew launch services as soon as they are available, SpaceX is pursuing multiple revenue streams with this single spacecraft.

Rocketplane Kistler also completed systems requirement design reviews to NASA’s satisfaction this month. They are also on tract to fulfill their commitments in the COTS development contract. “These milestones demonstrate genuine progress toward a new way of doing business for NASA and pave the way for the commercial purchase of transportation services needed to maintain the International Space Station,” said Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of the Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston. “If these companies can continue this rapid pace, the first demonstration launches are right around the corner.”