Following an on-the-pad short burst firing of their Falcon 1
rocket engine last month, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) is on track for a
maiden flight of the privately-built booster.
Assuming that there are no further delays in lofting a Titan
4 classified mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California - now slated for a July departure
- SpaceX expects to receive a Falcon 1 launch window from that spaceport for an
August timeframe.
The five second engine firing on May 27 of Falcon 1's Merlin main engine was
"picture perfect," explained Elon Musk, chairman and chief executive officer of the El Segundo,
California-based company in a just-issued SpaceX update.
Falcon I development is essentially complete, Musk added,
although SpaceX engineers will continue to do testing and retesting right up to
the day of launch from Space
Launch Complex 3 West at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
The premier
liftoff of Falcon I will carry the U.S. Defense Department's TacSat-1 satellite.
Customer discussions
For SpaceX, the rocket-for-hire business is looking good, Musk
stated.
The
U.S. Air Force has awarded the company a contract for Falcon I launch services.
The value of that contract could be as much as $100 million, depending on how
many launch options are exercised. This is independent of a Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/Air Force FALCON program, he added, for which
SpaceX will be conducting a launch later this year from the firm's launch
complex in the Marshall
Islands.
The FALCON program--not the Falcon 1 SpaceX booster--stands
for Force
Application and Launch from the Continental
U.S. This military effort is aimed at showcasing technologies for affordable
and responsive space lift.
"There are also a number of other customer discussions that
are quite mature. It appears quite likely that we will receive one or two more
launch contracts over the next few months," Musk said. SpaceX now has three
launches to carry out in the next six months, he said, and considers the
company goal of achieving an annual launch rate of five-plus in a few years as
reachable.
"Not yet mentioned on our manifest or in any press release
is our classified launch business, for obvious reasons," Musk said. The rocket
executive did not elaborate, except to say that the dollar value exceeds all
unclassified business combined, excluding the U.S. Air Force $100 million contract.
Long
term goal
Also highlighted in the company update is a NASA Johnson
Space Center (JSC) Space Act Agreement with SpaceX.
"JSC is the primary NASA center for human spaceflight and,
since human transportation is the primary long term goal of SpaceX, we are
likely to be doing a lot of work in partnership," Musk said.
The new Space Act Agreement provides a legal framework for
interchange of personnel, information and resources, Musk explained.
"Now that development of Falcon I is
almost over, we are turning our focus to Falcon 5, and one of the primary
markets for that vehicle is resupply of the International Space Station. As
such, we will need to work closely with JSC and other parts of NASA to
understand the rendezvous and docking/berthing requirements," Musk said.
Secret
projects
SpaceX is undergoing "a significant transformation" this
year, Musk said, from a company that does research and development (R&D) to
one that does R&D, manufacturing and launch operations.
Moreover, with the development of Falcon 5 "and a few secret
projects we have on the go," Musk said, the rocket group is also increasing the
scope and scale of the R&D. "We have tripled in size from a year ago and are
now at about 130 employees," he reported.
That growth includes office and manufacturing space, a
300-acre test facility in Texas, as well as an
office in Washington D.C.
and launch complexes at Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg and the Marshall Islands.
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