Press Release: Spacex Successfully Launches Falcon 1 To Orbit
SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 | Mission Summary In Pictures
On September 28, 2008, SpaceX made history when its Falcon 1, designed and manufactured from the ground up by SpaceX, became the first privately-developed liquid fuel rocket to orbit the Earth.
All photo credits: SpaceX.
Falcon 1 Flight 4 lifted off at 4:15 p.m. (PDT) / 23:15 (UTC) from the SpaceX launch site on Omelek Island at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) in the Central Pacific, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. It achieved an elliptical orbit of 621 x 643 km, 9.3 degrees inclination, and carried into orbit a payload mass simulator of approximately 165 kg (364 lbs), designed and built by SpaceX specifically for this mission.
Expedited delivery - SpaceX purchased a C-17 flight from the USAF to fly the Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle from Los Angeles International Airport to the Kwajalein Atoll, on 3 Sep 2008.
Members of the SpaceX launch crew fly with the Falcon 1. The USAF C-17 features more head and leg room than a commercial flight, and you can keep an eye on your luggage.
The SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 being erected on the launch pad at Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll.
SpaceX's Falcon 1 Flight 4 on the launch pad at Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands.
The SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle on the launch pad at Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll.
SpaceX's Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle on the launch pad at Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands (19 Sep 2008).
Static test firing of the SpaceX developed Merlin 1C engine on the first stage of the Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle, Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll, on 20 Sep 2008 (UTC).
Static test firing of the SpaceX developed Merlin 1C engine on the first stage of the Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle, Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll, on 20 Sep 2008 (UTC).
Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, in the command van at SpaceX headquarters, Hawthorne (Los Angeles), California.
Jeff Ward, VP of Avionics (left), and Chris Thomson, VP of Structures (center), in the command van at SpaceX headquarters.
The moment of ignition of the Falcon 1 Flight 4 rocket, as viewed in the command van at SpaceX headquarters, Hawthorne California, 28 September 2008. At lower left sits Elon Musk and to his left, Tom Mueller, VP of Propulsion.
Ignition of the SpaceX Merlin 1C engine, powering the Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle. View is from the second stage flight camera, looking down the rocket towards the ground.
Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle from Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll, at 4:15 p.m. (PDT) / 23:15 (UTC).
Liftoff of the Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle from Omelek Island, as viewed by a long range tracking camera on Meck Island, about 3 kilometers (2 miles) away, at 4:15 p.m. (PDT) / 23:15 (UTC).
Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle from Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll, at 4:15 p.m. (PDT) / 23:15 (UTC).
Liftoff of the Falcon 1 Flight 4 rocket as it climbs from Omelek Island. View is from the second stage flight camera, looking down the rocket towards the ground.
Liftoff of the Falcon 1 Flight 4 rocket as it climbs from Omelek Island. View is from the second stage flight camera, looking down the rocket.
Flight of the Falcon 1 Flight 4 rocket as it climbs from the Kwajalein Atoll. View is from the second stage flight camera, looking down the rocket.
Flight of the Falcon 1 Flight 4 about two and a half minutes into flight, just before shutdown of the first stage Merlin 1C engine at about 90 km (56 miles) in altitude. View is from the second stage flight camera, looking down the rocket.
Separation of the first stage of the Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle, revealing the Kestrel second stage engine.
First stage of the SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle as it falls back towards Earth.
The two halves of the fairing (nose cone) of the SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle fall back towards Earth. As the vehicle now travels in the vacuum of space, it no longer requires the streamlining provided by the fairings.
The fairing halves fall gracefully back towards Earth, to burn up as they reenter the atmosphere.
The second stage Kestrel engine on the SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 fires for nearly seven minutes. As the vehicle passes 100 km (62 miles) in altitude, it crosses the unofficial boundary of space.
Approximately nine and a half minutes after liftoff, the vehicle travels at 7.33 kilometers per second (16,400 miles per hour) — sufficient speed to remain in Earth orbit.
View from the SpaceX Command Van at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, as the Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle enters history as the first privately developed, liquid fueled vehicle to orbit the Earth.
Shut-down of the second stage Kestrel engine which powers the second stage of the Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle.
View of the SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 second stage engine as the vehicle orbits the Earth.
After travelling half way around the Earth, the Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle flies over the Atlantic Ocean on the night side of the Earth, and reignites the Kestrel second stage engine. Restarting the Kestrel engine raises and circularizes the orbit to an ellipse of 621 x 643 km, where it will remain for 10 years or longer.
After one complete orbit, the SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle passes over its launch site at the Kwajalein Atoll, and returns a view of the Earth.
After one complete orbit, the SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle passes over its launch site at the Kwajalein Atoll, and returns a view of the Earth. A fuzzy white “snowball” of frozen moisture bobs and dances against the window.
After one complete orbit, the SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle passes over its launch site at the Kwajalein Atoll, and returns a view of the Kestrel second stage engine against the darkness of space.
The Falcon 1 launch team on Kwajalein celebrates the launch success. This team of approximately two dozen was responsible for the launch vehicle integration, test and launch activities.
Elon Musk discusses the flight with Diane Murphy, SpaceX VP of Marketing and Communications, who co-hosted the launch webcast from the manufacturing floor at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
Elon Musk addresses team members at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, minutes after the Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle achieved Earth orbit.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Diane Murphy, VP Marketing/Communications
media@SpaceX.com
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SpaceX Successfully Launches Falcon 1 to Orbit
HAWTHORNE, CA – September 28, 2008 – Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) announces that Flight 4 of the Falcon 1 launch vehicle has successfully launched and achieved Earth orbit. With this key milestone, Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to orbit the Earth.
"This is a great day for SpaceX and the culmination of an enormous amount of work by a great team," said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. "The data shows we achieved a super precise orbit insertion—middle of the bull's-eye — and then went on to coast and restart the second stage, which was icing on the cake."
Falcon 1, designed from the ground up by SpaceX, lifted off at 4:15 p.m. (PDT) / 23:15 (UTC) from the Reagan Test Site (RTS) on Omelek Island at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) in the Central Pacific, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii.
Preliminary data indicates that Falcon 1 achieved an elliptical orbit of 500 km by 700 km, 9.2 degrees inclination—exactly as targeted.
Falcon 1 carried into orbit a payload mass simulator of approximately 165 kg (364 lbs), designed and built by SpaceX, specifically for this mission. Consisting of a hexagonal aluminum alloy chamber 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall, the payload remains attached to the second stage as it orbits Earth.
This was the fourth launch of the Falcon 1 launch vehicle and second flight for the new SpaceX-developed Merlin 1C regeneratively-cooled engine. A "hold before liftoff" system was used to enhance reliability by permitting all launch systems to be verified as functioning nominally before launch was initiated. A single SpaceX-developed Kestrel engine powered the Falcon 1 second stage.
For more information about the Falcon family of vehicles, and to watch the archived video of the Falcon 1, Flight 4 launch, visit the SpaceX website at www.spacex.com
About SpaceX
SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles intended to increase the reliability and reduce the cost of both manned and unmanned space transportation, ultimately by a factor of ten. With its Falcon line of launch vehicles, powered by internally-developed Merlin engines, SpaceX offers light, medium and heavy lift capabilities to deliver spacecraft into any altitude and inclination, from low-Earth to geosynchronous orbit to planetary missions.
As a winner of the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition (COTS), SpaceX is in a position to help fill the gap in American spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) when the Space Shuttle retires in 2010. Under the existing Agreement, SpaceX will conduct three flights of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft for NASA, culminating in Dragon berthing with the ISS. NASA also has an option to demonstrate crew services to the ISS using the Falcon 9 / Dragon system. SpaceX is the only COTS contender that has the capability to return pressurized cargo and crew to Earth. The first Falcon 9 will arrive at the SpaceX launch site (complex 40) at Cape Canaveral by the end of 2008 in preparation for its maiden flight in 2009.
Founded in 2002, the SpaceX team now numbers over 550, located primarily in Hawthorne, California, with four additional locations: SpaceX's Texas Test Facility in McGregor near Waco; offices in Washington DC; and launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the Marshall Islands in the Central Pacific.
(Click picture to play video)
Falcon 1 Flight 4 soars into space from its launch pad in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Central Pacific. The Falcon 1 is the first launch vehicle of the 21st Century and became the first privately-developed liquid fuel rocket to orbit the Earth.