Fourth Time's The Charm For Private Company

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 09.28.08 1920 EDT: It's all smiles for the gang at SpaceX. Falcon 1 has made history as the first privately-developed liquid fueled launch vehicle to achieve earth orbit... with the company's fourth Falcon I rocket performing flawlessly in a 10-minute ride to the heavens.

"And that would be a nominal SECO!" said launch commentator Max Vozoff upon second-stage engine shutdown. "This is a very good day at SpaceX."

At T-plus 10 minutes, Falcon I succesfully released its dummy payload... marking a wholly successful mission for the company, which has suffered through the failures of its first three launches.

Perhaps the first four words of the congratulatory speech given to SpaceX employees by company founder and Chief Technology Officer Elon Musk say it best...

"That was freakin' awesome!"

Original Report

1855 EDT: Can SpaceX finally record a completely successful launch, and achieve orbit? We'll soon see, as the fledgling launch services company prepares to launch its fourth Falcon I rocket just minutes from now.

SpaceX officials state launch time is scheduled for 1915 EDT from the company's Falcon 1 launch site at the Kwajalein Atoll, about 2500 miles southwest of Hawaii. Falcon 1 launch facilities are situated on Omelek Island, part of the Reagan Test Site (RTS) at United States Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) in the Central Pacific.

As of 1850 EDT, the rocket's first stage is 95% full of liquid oxygen (LOX) and completely full of RP-1 fuel. The LOX topping procedure has begun, with the second stage 97% full of LOX, and 100% full of RP-1.

Sunday's scheduled launch is by far the quickest turnaround between launches that SpaceX has managed to date. As ANN reported, SpaceX last tried for the heavens in early August; though things looked good to start, the launch went awry when the rocket's second stage failed to fully separate... a problem SpaceX founder Elon Musk says has been solved.

Though SpaceX's first three missions each carried experimental scientific payloads, this launch will carry a 364-lb "mass simulator" -- a fancy name for a dummy payload.

SpaceX Launch History

After three scrubbed attempts, SpaceX made its first launch of its Falcon I rocket on March 24, 2006. It looked good to start... but the launch vehicle was destroyed moments after it ascended from its launch pad on Kwajalein Atoll, in the Marshall Islands.

According to a statement from SpaceX, "at T+25s, a fuel leak of currently unknown origin caused a fire around the top of the main engine that cut into the first stage helium pneumatic system.  On high resolution imagery, the fire is clearly visible within seconds after liftoff.  Once the pneumatic pressure decayed below a critical value, the spring return safety function of the pre-valves forced them closed, shutting down the main engine at T+29s."

The second flight of the SpaceX Falcon I was launched on March 20, 2007 after two scrubbed tries. Company founder Elon Musk told reporters the Falcon I successfully reached space, "and retired almost all the risk associated with the rocket."

Indeed, all went well through stage two separation and rocket ignition... but problems arose with roll control in the later portion of the second stage burn. A progressive oscillation was apparent in the video feed from the second stage, and the rocket appeared to roll just as contact was lost.

SpaceX took a 16-month hiatus in scheduling the company's third mission of the Falcon I, which took place on August 3, 2008.

After having an earlier launch attempt abort at the last possible moment -- at T-minus .05 seconds -- the company's second launch attempt from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific appeared to be near-perfect to start... but problems soon arose after the Falcon 1's two stages failed to separate, and the rocket was destroyed.

"It was obviously a big disappointment not to reach orbit on this flight," said Musk. "On the plus side, the flight of our first stage, with the new Merlin 1C engine that will be used in Falcon 9, was picture perfect. Unfortunately, a problem occurred with stage separation, causing the stages to be held together.

In addition to the rocket, three satellites carried onboard the Falcon 1 -- for the Department of Defense, the Malaysian Government, and NASA -- were also destroyed. Despite the setback, however, the charismatic founder of SpaceX remained undeterred.

"The most important message I'd like to send right now is that SpaceX will not skip a beat in execution going forward," Musk said in August.

FMI: www.spacex.com