SpaceX: "We're In This For The Long Haul"

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 03.24.06 1755 EST: It looked good to start... but SpaceX reports its Falcon 1 launch vehicle was destroyed moments after it ascended from its launchpad on Kwalajein Atoll, in the Marshall Islands.

"We did lose the vehicle," said Gwynne Shotwell, vice president of business development at SpaceX.

The webcast signal of the launch, watched by thousands, was lost shortly after liftoff. Its last image displayed a birds-eye view of the island from a camera mounted on the rocket... and, an as-yet unexplained speck of flame near the rocket's tail.

"Clearly this is a setback," Shotwell said, "but we're in this for the long haul."

PREVIOUS REPORTS

ANN REALTIME REPORTING 03.24.06 1600 EST:  The countdown to launch SpaceX's Falcon 1 is expected to resume in about 15 minutes from now, after an approximately 75 minute hold due to a recovery boat that violated the impact limit line surrounding the launch site.

The countdown will resume at T-minus 1 hours, 15 minutes. The countdown delay was extended slightly in order to assure that the launch would not conflict with the International Space Station, which is in a similar orbit to that planned for the FalconSat-2. That window opens again at 5:28 pm EST.

ORIGINAL REPORT

Aero-News has just received word from the Marshall Islands that conditions are good for SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket to liftoff this afternoon two hours from now, at 4:00 pm EST.

This will be the fourth launch attempt for the Falcon 1 since last year. A launch attempt last month was scrapped after a problem arose during a static fire test. The latest launch attempt comes near the tail end of the current launch window, which runs through Saturday.

Should all go to plan this time around, the Falcon 1 rocket will begin its journey to orbit, accelerating to 17,000 mph (25 times the speed of sound) in less than ten minutes. Aboard the rocket on its maiden flight is the DARPA and US Air Force satellite FalconSat-2, which is part of the Air Force Academy’s satellite program that will measure space plasma phenomena.

Designed from the ground up by SpaceX, Falcon 1 is a two stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and purified, rocket grade kerosene. SpaceX reports the Falcon 1's main engine will be the first all new American hydrocarbon engine for an orbital booster to be flown in forty years, and only the second new American booster engine of any kind in twenty-five years -- once it flies.

Even prior to its first launch, SpaceX has several customers waiting to launch their payloads aboard the Falcon 1. The company reports eight firm launch contracts representing nearly $200 million, with three Falcon 1 launches scheduled over the next twelve months and the Falcon 9 debut is planned for late 2007.

Stay tuned...

FMI: www.spacex.com