SpaceX launch will be a key test
February 5, 2012 in Aerospace by admin
The launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, now scheduled for April, is billed as a demonstration mission to show the world a private company can safely deliver cargo to the space station.
“It’s very important,” agreed Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, top Republican on the Senate science committee, which oversees NASA. “Every step that’s taken toward fulfilling the role (private companies) have been given by the administration is important.”
The company, headquartered in Hawthorne, Ca., reported successfully test-firing its new SuperDraco engine essential to the escape system necessary for the mission to the space station.
SpaceX, which has a $1.6 billion contract to fly cargo to the space station, isn’t the only company in the mix.
Orbital Sciences Corp., which has the only other commercial crew contract ($1.9 billion, eight flights), plans a test launch of its Antares (formerly Taurus II) rocket fairly soon, to be followed by a demonstration flight of its Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the station.
