Rocket Being Touted As Space Shuttle Replacement

It's an entirely new concept. Not the rocket its self, that works like most rockets do. But in the case of the Falcon 9, a rocket designed and financed by a private company rather than the government could become the nation's primary delivery vehicle for cargo, and eventually crew, to the International Space Station.

That's what's riding on the looming first launch of the Falcon 9, designed by Space-X. And founder Elon Musk says the pressure to perform is enormous.

If the Falcon 9 launch is successful, NASA, Congress, and the White House will be much more comfortable proceeding with commercial space ventures, which are a big part of President Obama's stated long-term goals for space exploration. If Falcon 9 suffers a significant launch failure, then it will strengthen the hand of some in Congress who want to see a continuation of the Ares 1 program, currently scheduled for cancellation along with the entire Constellation program which former President George W. Bush envisioned for retuning men to the moon.

Falcon 9

MSNBC reports that Musk estimates a Falcon 9 launch should cost about $50 million, while the launch of an Atlas 5, NASA's current utility rocket, runs about $138 million. Those are the savings that have drawn the attention of the White House. Atlas and Delta rockets launch the majority of non-human payloads into space under the auspices of the Unite Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

President Obama personally joined Musk for a tour of the Falcon 9 launch complex at Cape Canaveral recently. The smaller Space-X Falcon 1 rocket was unable to attain earth orbit until the 4th and 5th tries, which increases the pressure on the Falcon 9 initial launch. Musk says the first countdown may not go all the way to zero. He said if anything looks the least bit out of place, the launch will be scrubbed and rescheduled.

Falcon 1 Launch

Currently, Space-X is waiting for approval from the Air Force for Falcon 9's flight termination system. The best estimate for a scheduled launch of the spacecraft is sometime late in May, but Musk said the second rocket is already being built, and a new Falcon 9 can roll off the assembly line every three to four months once production ramps up.

FMI: www.spacex.com