Falcon 9 rocket poised for 1st launch
Friday, June 4, 2010 at 10:28AM 
The Falcon 9 rocket is poised for its first launch Friday morning as part of a plan to have a private-sector space company take over from NASA once the shuttle stops flying.
The launch window opens at 11 a.m. ET at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and closes at 3 p.m.
The rocket is the work of Space Exploration Technologies — also known as SpaceX. The company was founded eight years ago by Elon Musk, the multimillionaire co-founder of the PayPal electronic payment system.
He has publicly estimated Friday's chances of success at 70 to 80 per cent.
"I hope people don't put too much emphasis on our success," Musk said, "because it's simply not correct to have the fate of commercial launch depend on what happens in the next few days. But it certainly does add to the pressure."
SpaceX needed four tries before it was finally able to get its two-stage Falcon 1 rocket into orbit in 2008. One of those failed attempts saw SpaceX lose three government satellites and human ashes, including the remains of astronaut Gordon Cooper and Star Trek actor James Doohan, when the rocket's first stage bumped into the second stage after separation.
10-minute flight
The 47-metre-high Falcon 9 rocket will try to carry an unmanned mock-up cargo capsule into orbit.
SpaceX has received a lucrative subsidy from NASA to develop its rocket program to carry cargo to the International Space Station. Company officials hope its Falcon rockets will eventually carry astronauts to the station.
SpaceX says astronaut flights could follow within three years of the company getting a contract.
The space shuttle program winds down later this year and the commercial space sector has been asked to come up with a replacement.
The Falcon 9's first flight is likely to last no more than 10 minutes. The goal is to place a small capsule in orbit 250 kilometres above the Earth. It will stay there for a year before it re-enters the atmosphere and burns up.
SpaceX has spent $400 million US on developing its rocket program. Musk says a new version of the Falcon 9 is already under development.
Source: CBC News
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/06/04/falcon-launch.html?ref=rss#ixzz0ptWe0FWK
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