Friday, September 25, 2009

SpaceX Completes Sensor Test

Hawthorne-based SpaceX, the firm which is developing commercial space launch rockets, said Friday that it has successfully demonstrated a component on the NASA STS-127 shuttle mission. The firm said that it has demonstrated a proximity sensor that ithopes to use on its SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which is being designed to help resupply the International Space Station. The firm said the Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor was tested on the Space Shuttle Endeavor. SpaceX said it will be using the sensor on its Dragon spacecraft, which is being built as part of a NASA COTS effort to use commercial providers to resupply the International Space Station. SpaceX's contract with NASA calls for the firm to carry cargo to the ISS in 12 flights between 2010 and 2015. SpaceX--which is headed by Elon Musk--is venture backed by the Founders Fund and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.