SpaceX Launches Cargo Spacecraft Into Orbit
By Jason Paur
Space Exploration Systems successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft at 10:43 a.m. EST this morning from Cape Canaveral in Florida into low earth orbit. The launch marks the second flight for a Falcon 9 and the first for the spacecraft. The first attempt for the demo flight was aborted two minutes and 50 seconds before a scheduled 9:03 a.m. EST launch after a faulty signal in one of the devices that controls switching off the rocket motors.
A little over nine minutes after launch SpaceX announced the Dragon spacecraft had reached orbit and cheers could be heard from the launch team.
The SpaceX rocket and spacecraft are designed to carry cargo or human payloads to the International Space Station as part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation System that will replace the space shuttle.
Today’s COTS 1 test flight is expected to last around three and a half hours with the Dragon making nearly two orbits around the earth before splashing down in the Pacific about 500 miles off the coast of Mexico. If successful, it will be the first time a private company has launched and recovered a spacecraft from earth orbit. It also marks the first time a new American spacecraft capable of carrying humans has launched into orbit since the space shuttle first flew nearly 30 years ago.
The Falcon 9 rocket is nearly 158 feet tall and made its first flight into orbit in June. The Dragon capsule is nearly 17 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter. The system can carry 7,297 pounds of pressurized cargo into orbit. The Dragon spacecraft is designed to carry five to seven passengers to orbit, as well.
SpaceX says the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft could begin carrying cargo to the ISS as early as next year. The company has a contract for at least 12 flights to the ISS and is also capable of returning cargo from the station.
Images: SpaceX
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