First commercial spacecraft lifts off in US
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E-mail Xinhua, May 23, 2012
U.S. private spaceflight company SpaceX launched an unmanned capsule to the International Space Station on Tuesday morning, initiating the first flight of a commercial spacecraft to the orbiting outpost.
![SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off as it heads for space carrying the company's Dragon spacecraft from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Opening a new era in private space flight, the US company SpaceX became the first commercial outfit to launch its own craft toward the International Space Station. [Chinanews.com]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20120523/000cf1bdd03f11268a860e.JPG "SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off as it heads for space carrying the company's Dragon spacecraft from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Opening a new era in private space flight, the US company SpaceX became the first commercial outfit to launch its own craft toward the International Space Station. [Chinanews.com]") |
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SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off as it heads for space carrying the company's Dragon spacecraft from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Opening a new era in private space flight, the US company SpaceX became the first commercial outfit to launch its own craft toward the International Space Station. [Chinanews.com] |
Atop the California-based company's own Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon capsule rocketed into the sky from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
"Three, two, one and launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, as (U.S. space agency) NASA turns to the private sector to resupply the International Space Station," said NASA commentator George Diller, as the spacecraft blasted off at 3:44 am (0744 GMT).
The test flight was originally scheduled for April 30, but has been delayed several times due to technical glitches and final checks of the spacecraft's flight software.
If all goes well, the ship will be the first operated by a private company, rather than the government, to supply the space station. However, both SpaceX and NASA have cautioned that the attempt is risky.
"Demonstration launches are conducted to determine potential issues so that they might be addressed and -- by their very nature -- carry a significant risk," SpaceX said in a statement on Monday.
"If any aspect of the mission is not successful, SpaceX will learn from the experience and try again," the company added.
"This is a test flight. NASA views test flights primarily as learning opportunities," Phil McAlister, NASA's acting director of Commercial Spaceflight Development, told reporters Friday. "If it gets us in a better posture to fly next time, that is a good thing."
The bell-shaped Dragon capsule is 19 feet tall and 12 feet across. It carries more than 1,000 pounds of cargo, mostly food and clothing -- items NASA regards as no big loss should the launching fail.
The Dragon will reach the space station Thursday and undergo a series of orbital maneuvers and equipment checks to make sure the craft can be controlled.
The tests are similar to those European and Japanese cargo carriers had to fly before their inaugural arrivals.
"These are the requirements that must be achieved before the 'go' is given to do the final approach," said Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program.
If it passes the tests, NASA will give the go-ahead for the final approach on Friday, when astronauts Donald Pettit and Andre Kuipers will use the space station's robotic arm to grab the Dragon and pull it to a docking port.
The vehicle is scheduled to stay at the outpost for about two weeks. Then, it will be unberthed and head back to Earth, where it is planned to re-enter the atmosphere and splash down off the coast of southern California.
What sets the Dragon apart from other capsules is that it can bring back space station experiments and old equipment, as the space shuttles did.
None of the Russian, European and Japanese supply ships do that -- they burn up when they return to Earth. The Russian Soyuz vehicles that ferry astronauts have little room to spare.
If the mission is successful, SpaceX would collect the remaining payments on a 396-million-U.S.-dollar agreement with NASA to develop the cargo ship. SpaceX would then enter a 1.6-billion-dollar contract for a dozen cargo flights to the station.
If the flight fails, SpaceX would have to repeat the demonstration flight until it succeeds.
SpaceX has so far avoided the early failures that typically accompany a new rocket like the Falcon 9. The maiden flight, in June 2010, was almost flawless. The second flight -- the first under the NASA agreement -- was in December 2010, putting into orbit a Dragon capsule that successfully parachuted back to Earth.
Up to now, flights to the space station have always been a government-only affair.
Until their retirement last summer, U.S. space shuttles carried most of the gear and many of the astronauts to the orbiting outpost. Since then, U.S. astronauts have had to rely on Russian capsules for rides. European, Japanese and Russian supply ships have been delivering cargo.
NASA is looking to the private sector, in this post-shuttle era, to get U.S. astronauts launching again from U.S. soil. It will be at least four to five years before SpaceX or any other private operator is capable of flying astronauts.
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