Founder Musk Remains Determined

Three attempts... three failures. No matter the reasons -- or how unfair that simplistic characterization might be in the field of rocketry --  that's the tally after the third unsuccessful launch of a Falcon 1 rocket by Hawthorne, CA-based SpaceX.

After having the first launch attempt abort at the last possible moment -- at T-minus .05 seconds, according to the company -- the company's second launch attempt Saturday 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 SpaceX founder Elon 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.

"This is under investigation and I will send out a note as soon as we understand exactly what happened," Musk added.

As ANN reported late Saturday (in the middle of our staff's mass exodus from Wittman Field, hence the reason for this delayed update -- RF) SpaceX took a 16-month hiatus in scheduling the company's third launch attempt. A fuel leak doomed the first launch at T+29 seconds in March 2006; the company's second launch attempt one year later was nominal through the firing of the Falcon's second-stage, but a progressive oscillation began in the later stages of the burn, which led the second stage engine to stop burning just short of orbital altitude.

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 charasmatic founder of SpaceX remains 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 says. "We have flight four of Falcon 1 almost ready for flight and flight five right behind that. I have also given the go ahead to begin fabrication of flight six. 

"As a precautionary measure to guard against the possibility of flight 3 not reaching orbit, SpaceX recently accepted a significant investment," Musk added. "Combined with our existing cash reserves, that ensures we will have more than sufficient funding on hand to continue launching Falcon 1 and develop Falcon 9 and Dragon [manned space vehicle].

"There should be absolutely zero question that SpaceX will prevail in reaching orbit and demonstrating reliable space transport. For my part, I will never give up and I mean never. Thanks for your hard work and now on to flight four."

FMI: www.spacex.com