Private Company Gets Clearance For Rocket Launch
06.04.10 |
A private company operated by the co-owner of PayPal is set to conduct its first rocket launch today near Florida's Kennedy Space Center. Space Exploration Technologies, known as SpaceX, will launch its 180-foot-high Falcon 9 test rocket. NASA plans to use the rocket to transport cargo and possibly astronauts to the International Space Station. A four-hour launch window for the rocket opens at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time.
As NASA retires its shuttle fleet in the coming months, the government is looking to private firms to handle the space agency's share of I-S-S resupply business. After flying test missions for NASA, SpaceX plans to start delivering cargo to the space outpost next year. Friday's flight is part of a 400-million-dollar SpaceX program to design and fly discount rockets costing 50-million dollars each for governments, companies and research institutes.
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