Hawthorne (CA) - Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a company that may play a critical role in providing NASA an opportunity to continue its space flights when the Space Shuttle retires in 2010, made another step toward a functional space craft. The company said that it successfully conducted a full mission-length firing of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle on Saturday.
SpaceX said that the static test firing involved the first stage firing of 178 seconds, which is believed to be enough to take a space craft from Earth to orbit. The Falcon 9 launch vehicle remained secured to the ground and never left the McGregor Test Facility in Texas.
The company said that the rocket develops 855,000 pounds of force at sea level. In vacuum, the thrust increases to approximately one million pounds or four times the maximum thrust of a Boeing 747 aircraft. Consuming more than two million pounds of propellant, the rocket’s nine engines fired for 160 seconds, after which two engines were shut down to limit the acceleration; the remaining seven engines continued firing for 18 more seconds to simulate a typical climb to orbit.
SpaceX said that the test-firing was a critical milestone to show that all nine engines of Falcon 9 work and that the launch vehicle is able to compensate for the shutdown or loss of engines and still complete its mission goal. Rockets used by NASA today do not have this capability, SpaceX said. However, the Saturn V and Saturn 1 rockets had such a feature.
“The full mission-length test firing clears the highest hurdle for the Falcon 9 first stage before launch,” said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. “In the next few months, we will have the first Falcon 9 flight vehicle on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, preparing for lift-off in 2009.”
In September, SpaceX’ Falcon 1 became the first privately-developed liquid fuel rocket to achieve Earth orbit.
SpaceX has won NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition (COTS) and claims that it is the only COTS contender with the capability to return cargo to Earth and demonstrate the capability to carry crew to and from the ISS. Under an agreement with NASA, SpaceX will conduct three flights of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft for the organization.
SpaceX said that the static test firing involved the first stage firing of 178 seconds, which is believed to be enough to take a space craft from Earth to orbit. The Falcon 9 launch vehicle remained secured to the ground and never left the McGregor Test Facility in Texas.The company said that the rocket develops 855,000 pounds of force at sea level. In vacuum, the thrust increases to approximately one million pounds or four times the maximum thrust of a Boeing 747 aircraft. Consuming more than two million pounds of propellant, the rocket’s nine engines fired for 160 seconds, after which two engines were shut down to limit the acceleration; the remaining seven engines continued firing for 18 more seconds to simulate a typical climb to orbit.SpaceX said that the test-firing was a critical milestone to show that all nine engines of Falcon 9 work and that the launch vehicle is able to compensate for the shutdown or loss of engines and still complete its mission goal. Rockets used by NASA today do not have this capability, SpaceX said. However, the Saturn V and Saturn 1 rockets had such a feature.“The full mission-length test firing clears the highest hurdle for the Falcon 9 first stage before launch,” said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. “In the next few months, we will have the first Falcon 9 flight vehicle on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, preparing for lift-off in 2009.”In September, SpaceX’ Falcon 1 became the first privately-developed liquid fuel rocket to achieve Earth orbit.SpaceX has won NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition (COTS) and claims that it is the only COTS contender with the capability to return cargo to Earth and demonstrate the capability to carry crew to and from the ISS. Under an agreement with NASA, SpaceX will conduct three flights of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft for the organization. Subscribe to the TG Daily Newsletter Email:
A Merlin rocket engine. Each Falcon 9 rocket uses 9 Merlin engines A computer simulation of a Falcon 9 launch At 10:30pm on November 23, 2008, near the airport in , Texas, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) tested their new Falcon 9 rocket at full thrust for nearly 3 minutes (160 seconds). The engineers then shut down two of the nine engines — in order to limit potential damage to the launch pad — and continued the test for 18 more seconds before finally shutting the rocket down. "We ran the engines just like they would run during flight, but instead of being up in the air, they were held down. They weren’t moving," said Lauren Dreyer, SpaceX's manager for business development. This was the Falcon 9's first major test firing, and it marks a milestone for the company in its plans to capture a section of the commercial launch market.

The test reportedly shook the windows of houses 5 miles away, causing agitation among residents who felt that they had not received adequate warning. "I appreciate the fact that the company notified the City of McGregor, but did they not think the test would affect the surrounding communities?" asked commenter Lorena Resident on the website for the Waco Tribune-Herald. Waco lies just east of McGregor.

The Falcon 9 rocket, and its smaller sibling the Falcon 1, are the first rockets capable of entering  (LEO) to have their design be privately funded in its entirety. According to SpaceX the Falcon 9 can generate 4 times the maximum thrust of a  while firing in a vacuum, and will eventually be able to perform interplanetary missions in addition to its initial role as an orbital launch vehicle. SpaceX is also designing a crew and cargo capsule for the Falcon 9, which it has named the "".

SpaceX is a contender for future commercial contracts from various government run space agencies, with NASA expressing particular interest. NASA will be retiring their fleet of Columbia Class  in 2010, but will not have the Shuttles' replacements (the  and  rockets) ready until at least 2014. NASA hopes to fill some of this gap using commercial launches from companies such as SpaceX. SpaceX has already reached an agreement with NASA to conduct three test flights of the Dragon capsule in conjunction with the Falcon 9. The first of these flights is expected in 2009.

Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said, "The full mission-length test firing clears the highest hurdle for the Falcon 9 first stage before launch. In the next few months, we will have the first Falcon 9 flight vehicle on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, preparing for lift-off in 2009."