LIVE UPDATES: SpaceX to Announce Liftoff Time of the Falcon 1 Rocket

[Chris Bergin]

SpaceX to Announce Liftoff Time of the Falcon 1 Rocket: The World's Lowest Cost Rocket to Orbit

Who: SpaceX Founder and CEO Elon Musk will announce the T-Zero liftoff time of the historic maiden flight of Falcon 1 at a pre-launch press conference tomorrow afternoon. Please note that this will be the last time Mr. Musk will be available to the media before launch due to his travel to the Kwajalein launch site. Following the press conference, interested media will also have the opportunity to tour the SpaceX facilities.


SpaceX is the third company founded by Elon Musk. Previously he co-founded PayPal, the world's leading electronic payment system, which sold to online auction giant eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002. In 1995, Mr. Musk co-founded Zip2, which sold to Compaq Computer Corporation for more than $300 million.


When: Friday, November 18, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. (PDT). Media should arrive by 1:30 p.m. (PDT).


Where: SpaceX Headquarters in El Segundo, CA - five minutes south of the Los Angeles International Airport.


  1310 East Grand Ave
  El Segundo, CA 90245



Background: Designed from the ground up by SpaceX, Falcon 1 is an unmanned, two stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen (LOX) and rocket grade kerosene (RP-1). On launch day, Falcon 1 will make history for several reasons:


   * It will be the first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach
     orbit and the world's first all new orbital rocket in over a decade.
   * The main engine of Falcon 1 (Merlin) will be the first all new American
     hydrocarbon booster engine to be flown in forty years and only the
     second new American booster engine of any kind in twenty-five years.
   * The Falcon 1 is the only rocket flying 21st century avionics, which
     require a small fraction of the power and mass of other systems.
   * It will be the world's only semi-reusable orbital rocket apart from the
     Shuttle (all other launch vehicles are completely expendable).  When
     the Shuttle stops flying in 2010, Falcon 1 will be the only
     semi-reusable launch vehicle.
   * Most importantly, Falcon 1, priced at $6.7 million, will provide the
     lowest cost per flight to orbit of any launch vehicle in the world.
     Despite the low cost, SpaceX has received a design reliability rating
     equivalent to that of the best launch vehicles currently flying in the
     United States.



The maiden flight of Falcon 1 will take place from the Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands (Kwajalein Atoll). The customer for this mission is DARPA and the Air Force and the payload will be FalconSat-2, part of the Air Force Academy's satellite program that will measure space plasma phenomena, which can adversely affect space-based communications, including GPS and other civil and military communications. The target orbit is 400 km X 500 km (just above the International Space Station) at an inclination of 39 degrees.

[FransonUK]

So when's this launch guessed to be announed as?

[braddock]

The announcement said that Elon wouldn't be available after the conference until the launch because he was immediately flying out to the launch island.  So I'm guessing maybe as soon as early next week.  SpaceX has been saying that the rocket has been on the pad ready to go for weeks, they just wanted to do more engine test stand firings to be sure they had fixed their ablative engine failure a couple months ago.

-braddock

[publiusr]

Day after Thanksgiving so the scuttlebutt goes.

[braddock]

I am on the Press Conference call to SpaceX now.  I will try to provide some live updates in this thread as the conference proceeds.

-Braddock Gaskill

[Chris Bergin]

Great work, making this a live update thread.

[braddock]

Launch will be Friday at 1pm Pacific Time.  Limited web casting...you will need permission from SpaceX, so probably just press get to watch the web cast.

[braddock]

MUSK: " I don't feel vervous, I feel relieved."
MUSK: "No one said rockets were easy, but it was harder than that."

[Andy L]

When is Thanksgiving (and what is it?) Anyone got a date for the non Americans.

[braddock]

MUSK: "I feel pretty good about our engines"

Musk struck a pretty pessimistic tone during the beginning of the conference.  He seems to be gaining enthusiasm now.

[Chris Bergin]

braddock - 18/11/2005  10:37 PM

Launch will be Friday at 1pm Pacific Time.  Limited web casting...you will need permission from SpaceX, so probably just press get to watch the web cast.

I'll try and get permission to host it on the video section.

Great work with the quotes Braddock.

[braddock]

MUSK: Intend to seek outside funding early next year....then we will continue development of the Falcon 9 and designs beyond the Falcon 9.

Musk intends to raise approximately $100million of outside funding next year, which is approximately what he has personally already investing in the company.

[braddock]

SpaceX will shortly be announcing more details on their new Merlin 2 engine design, which will be "the largest engine in the world of any kind" (although current engines, not historical)

[braddock]

MUSK: Merlin 2 will be a regeneratively cooled engine, rather than ablatively cooled chamber.
MUSK: One mistake we made with Merlin 1 was to go with ablative design.

[braddock]

Re future manned flight customers, Musk hopes to one day "take people to the space station, hopefully take people to the Bigelow space station, and take people who just want to go up into orbit"

Also says the Falcon 9 would be capable of a "loop around the moon" trip.

[Flightstar]

Andy L - 18/11/2005  4:39 PM

When is Thanksgiving (and what is it?) Anyone got a date for the non Americans.

It makes the launch date next Friday, 25th November - 1pm West Coast time.

[braddock]

MUSK: ITAR is something in need of reform..[...]  It's definitely a barrier, and I think very harmful to the US space industry.

Musk feels that countries like Canada should be exempt from ITAR regulations.

[Rob in KC]

braddock - 18/11/2005  4:44 PM

SpaceX will shortly be announcing more details on their new Merlin 2 engine design, which will be "the largest engine in the world of any kind" (although current engines, not historical)

Something that can compete with a 5-seg SRB? He's getting a bit over his head here?

[braddock]

Musk described the parachute 1st stage retrieval details.

When do you think you could fly cargo missions to the space station?
MUSK: "I'm optimistic that we should be able to do that in the next 3-4 years."

[braddock]

Musk expects SpaceX to offer their own complete solution for ISS cargo, docking, and capsule.  But they will also be happy to fly someone elses capsule at the same price we charge internally for a lunch.  However, Musk says SpaceX is currently only focused on the booster, not cargo capsule.

Question: are you currently developing your own manned capsule?
MUSK: I can't comment on that.

[Ad Astra]

I'm liking all of this. Thanks for the updates.

[Peter NASA]

I'll be impressed when he gets metal in the sky. Might happen next Friday, but a lot can happen in the space of seven days of launch prep.

[braddock]

Musk says toughest competition to Falcon I internationally is converted Russian ICBMs, since they don't have to pay for manufacture or development, just refurbishment for launch.  Still, Musk says Falcon I _IS_ cheaper than the Russian ICBM launchers.

Domestically, Musk says their biggest competitor to the Falcon I is people putting their small satellite as a secondary payload in a large satellite launch.

[braddock]

MUSK: "The pricing of the Falcon I does not assume any reusability."
Musk says they did not want to assume reusability, and that it might take a couple flights to get recovery right, so if they are successful at reusability their launch price could be reducded.

Musk says they are attempting to build a "fleet" of reusable vehicles (first stages at any rate), not just build per launch.

[Chris SF]

And those Russian converts are failing a lot of late, so that's a clever comment from him.

[braddock]

It is over.  Musk "has to catch a plane".

[braddock]

Stay tuned for the article in the next few hours.  I have also obtained today the amended SpaceX filing for the Boeing and Lockheed lawsuit which I'll make available and have some commentary on.

Thanks everyone,
Braddock Gaskill

[Chris Bergin]

Great work Braddock.

Article will be published asap and linked up in here.

[NASA_Twix_JSC]

Very nicely updated. Thanks.

[Bruce H]

Nice work.

[AndyMc]

Thanks for the coverage braddock

[Chris Bergin]

Article in 5 mins on site.

Revised set of claims against Lockheed and Boeing document also going on in the next 10 mins.

[Chris Bergin]

Excellent work from Braddock here:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?id=4062

[Martin FL]

This site really is making huge strides in space coverage.

[James Lowe1]

In case some people are reading this wondering why they can't see the PDF file, you need to be signed up to the forum to view the video section. It's free, your e-mail is not used in any way other than to send you your password. Takes 10 seconds to do.

[FransonUK]

Great story, going to read through the suit later, but after thinking this guy was looking for cheap PR, he seems to have this switched to serious mode now.

[UK Shuttle Clan]

Who do people think will be the source of the extra 100m he needs?

[AndyMc]

UK Shuttle Clan - 19/11/2005  8:57 AM

Who do people think will be the source of the extra 100m he needs?

Inverstors who can see a market for it: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=18740

[Chris Bergin]

Here's the audio from the press conference:

http://www.spacex.com/SpaceXPressConference.mp3