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  Home arrow News arrow News from Space arrow not as easy as it looks

 
not as easy as it looks | Print |  E-mail
Written by staff   
Friday, 01 June 2007

Despite the March failure of its Falcon 1 rocket, Space Exploration Technologies is continuing its program to develop a reliable private rocket system, and have announced plans for another launch in November, according to founder Elon Musk in a recent interview on SPACE.com.

The March 24 flight ended shortly after launch when the rocket cuaght fire and crashed due to the failure of a small aluminum nut that led to a kerosene leak.

The rocket landed on an island reef near the Kwajalein Atoll launch site in about four feet of water.

“Almost no rocket debris was on the island except the satellite,” Musk told SPACE.com. The small experimental spacecraft which the rocket was carrying, called FalconSat-2, was tossed free of the failed rocket, slammed through the roof of an unoccupied storage shed on the island, and crashed next to the shipping container used to transport it to Kwajalein.

For the upcoming launch, SpaceX has upgraded the rocket’s health monitoring system - software that verifies the booster’s condition leading up to engine ignition and release. In the interview, Musk emphasized the importance of the data gathered during the brief March 24 flight.

Development continues for the company's much larger Falcon 9 rocket as well.

Musk estimates that he has invested roughly $100 million into SpaceX so far.

 
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