Friday, March 24, 2006

SpaceX Rocket Destroyed In Launch

El Segundo-based SpaceX made another attempt at the launch of its low-cost Falcon 1 rocket today, and successfully clearing the launch pad, but lost the rocket and payload in flight a minute after launch. In a terse statement on the company's web site, Elon Musk, the company's founder said that more information will be posted once the company has time to analyze the problem. The rocket was launched from the Marshall Islands. The payload, the FalconSat-2, was an Air Force Academy satellite for measuring space plasma. The loss of the rocket cames after the flight plan for the rocket was scrubbed three times before this launch. SpaceX, which is bankrolled by PayPal founder Elon Musk, is trying to commercialize fully reusable launch vehicles.