Sunday, January 21, 2007

A Launch Slip for SpaceX

SpaceX's first orbital launch (second launch attempt) has slipped into February after an anomaly was discovered on the second stage of the Falcon 1 vehicle on the launch pad at Kwajalein Atoll. In a December update, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had cautioned that, given the many upgrades to the vehicle since the first launch ended in failure, there could be a series of tests and countdowns ahead before launch.
COMMENT: SpaceX was originally over-optimistic about the timetable for making their low-cost ($6.9M) vehicle operational. However, the company has the backing and the brains to succeed, and I expect it will.

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