Space exploration technologies | Wikipedia audio article
Space. Exploration Technologies. Corp. Doing, business, as SpaceX, is a private. American aerospace. Manufacturer. And space transportation. Services. Company, headquartered, in Hawthorne, California. It. Was founded, in, 2002. By entrepreneur. Elon Musk, with the goal of reducing space. Transportation. Costs. And enabling, the colonization. Of Mars. SpaceX. Has since developed the Falcon, launch vehicle, family, in the Dragon, spacecraft family. Which both currently, deliver, payloads, into Earth orbit. SpaceX's. Achievements. Include, the first privately. Funded, liquid, propellant, rocket, to reach orbit Falcon, 1 in 2008. The first private, company, to successfully. Launch orbit. And recover, a spacecraft. Dragon, in 2010. The first private. Company, to send a spacecraft to, the International Space. Station, dragon, in 2012. The, first propulsive. Landing for. An orbital, rocket Falcon, 9 in 2015. The first reuse, of an orbital, Rocket Falcon, 9 in, 2017. And the first private, company, to launch an object, into orbit, around the Sun Vulcan, heavies payload, of a Tesla, Roadster, in 2018. SpaceX. Has flown, 16, resupply. Missions, to the International, Space Station. ISS. Under, a partnership, with NASA, NASA. Also awarded. SpaceX, a further development, contract. In 2011. To develop, and demonstrate a, human, rated dragon which would be used to transport, astronauts. To the ISS and. Return him safely to, earth. SpaceX. Conducted. The maiden launch of its crew Dragon, spacecraft on. A NASA required. Demonstration. Flight on March 2nd. 2019. And is set to launch its first crewed. Crew dragon, later in 2019. On the. 11th, of March at 8:45. A.m. s, the, SpaceX, crew dragon, completed, its first uncrewed, flight that splash landed, in the Atlantic. The. Fight named SPX. One german mark has demonstrated the. Crew dragons, ability, to safely transport, crew, to ISS, and back. SpaceX. Announced in 2011. That it was beginning a reusable, Launch System, technology. Development, program. In. December, 2015. The, first, falcon 9 was flown back to a landing, pad near the launch site, where, it successfully. Accomplished, a propulsive, vertical. Landing. This. Was the first such achievement. By a rocket, for orbital, spaceflight.
In. April, 2016. With the launch of CRS. 8 SpaceX. Successfully, vertically. Landed, the first stage, on an ocean drone, ship landing, platform, in. May. 2016. In another first, SpaceX. Again landed, the first stage. But, during a significantly. More energetic. Geostationary. Transfer orbit, mission. In. March. 2017. SpaceX. Became, the first to successfully, relaunch, and land the first stage, of an orbital, rocket, in September. 2016. CEO. Elon, Musk unveiled, the mission architecture. Of the interplanetary, transport. System. Program, an ambitious, privately, funded, initiative, to develop space, flight technology for, use in crude interplanetary. Space flight, in. 2017. Musk. Unveiled, an updated, configuration. Of the system now named starship. And super-heavy. Which is planned to be fully reusable and. Will be the largest rocket, ever on its debut currently. Scheduled, for the early 2020s. You. Topic. History. In, 2001. Elon Musk conceptualized. Mars Oasis, a project, to land a miniature, experimental. Greenhouse, and grow plants, on Mars this, would be the farthest that life's ever traveled. In. An attempt to regain public, interest, in space exploration and. Increased the budget of NASA. Musk. Tried to buy cheap rockets, from Russia but returned, empty-handed, after. Failing to find rockets, for an affordable price, on. The. Flight home musk, realized, that he could start a company, that could build the affordable, Rockets he needed. According. To early Tesla. And SpaceX investors. Steve Jurvetson musk. Calculated. That the raw materials. For building a rocket actually were only three percent of the sales price of a rocket at the time, by. Applying vertical. Integration, producing. Around 85, percent of launch hardware, in-house and the modular approach from, software, engineering, SpaceX. Could cut launch price by a factor, of 10 and still enjoy a 70%, gross, margin. In early. 2002. Musk, was seeking staff, for his new space company. Soon to be named SpaceX. Musk. Approached, rocket, engineer, Tom Muller later SpaceX. Is CTO, of propulsion. And mueller agreed to work for musk, and thus SpaceX. Was born. SpaceX. Was first headquartered. In a warehouse in El Segundo, California. The. Company, has grown rapidly since, it was founded, in 2002. Growing, from, 160. Employees in November. 2005. To. 1100. In 2010. 3,800. Employees and. Contractors by. October, 2013. Nearly. Five thousand, by late 2015. And, about six thousand, in April, 2017. As. Of. November. 2017. The company, had grown to nearly seven, thousand. In. 2016. Musk, gave a speech, at the International. Astronautical, Congress, where. He explained, that the US government, regulates, rocket, technology, as an advanced. Weapon, technology. Making. It difficult to, hire non Americans, as. Of. March 2018. SpaceX. Had over 100. Launches, on its manifest. Representing. About 12 billion dollars in contract, revenue. The. Contracts. Included, both commercial. And government, NASA, daaad customers. In. Late, 2013. Space. Industry. Media quoted Musk's, comments, on SpaceX. Forcing. Increased. Competitiveness, in. The launch industry. Its. Major, competitors in, the commercial, COMSAT launch market. Being Arian, space United. Launch Alliance and, international. Launch services. At. The same time musk, also, said that the increased, competition, would, be, a good thing for the future of space. Currently. SpaceX. Is the leading global commercial. Launch, provider, measured, by manifested. Lawn choose. You. Topic. Goals. Musk, has stated that one of his goals is to decrease the cost and improve the reliability of, access, to space, ultimately. By a factor, of 10. CEO. Elon, Musk said, I believe. $500. Per pound. $1,100. Per kilogram. Or less, is very achievable. A major. Goal of SpaceX. Has been to develop a, rapidly, reusable. Launch System, as of. March 2013, the. Publicly, announced, aspects, of this technology. Development. Effort, include, an active test campaign, of the low-altitude, low-speed. Grasshopper. Vertical, takeoff vertical. Landing, VTV, l technology. Demonstrator. Rocket, and the high altitude, high-speed, Falcon, 9 post, mission booster. Return test campaign. In. 2015. SpaceX. Successfully landed. The first orbital, rocket, stage on December, 21st.
To. Date SpaceX. Has successfully, landed, 25. Boosters. 23. Falcon, 9 and 2 Falcon, Heavy in, 2017. SpaceX. Formed, a subsidiary, the boring, company. And began, work to construct, a short underground. Test tunnel on and adjacent to the SpaceX, headquarters. And manufacturing. Facility. Utilizing. A small number of SpaceX, employees. Which, was completed, in May 2018. And opened, to the public in, December 2018. During. 2018. The boring, company, was spun out into a separate, corporate, entity with. Six percent, of the equity going. To SpaceX, less, than 10 percent too early employees, and the remainder of the equity, to Elon Musk at the 2017. International. Astronautical, Congress in. Adelaide, Australia musk. Announced, his plans to build large spaceships, to reach Mars. Using. The bfr, musk, plans to land at least two uncrewed, cargo, ships to Mars in, 2022. The, first. Missions, will be used to seek out sources, of water and build a propellant, plant, in. 2024. Musk, plans to fly for additional, ships to Mars including, the first people. From. There additional, missions. Would work to establish a Mars colony. Musk's. Advocacy. For the long-term settlement of Mars goes far beyond what SpaceX. Projects. To build a successful. Colonization. Would ultimately, involve, many more economic. Actors, whether. Individuals. Companies, or, governments. To. Facilitate. The growth of the human presence, on Mars over, many decades. You. Topic. Achievements. Landmark. Achievements. Of SpaceX, include. The. First privately, funded, liquid-fueled. Rocket, to reach orbit Falcon, one flight for. September. 28. 2008. The. First privately. Developed liquid-fueled. Rocket, to put a commercial, satellite in, orbit Raziq sat on Falcon 1 flight 5. July, 14. 2009. The. First private, company, to successfully. Launch orbit. And recover, a spacecraft. Dragon, capsule on Cox demo, flight 1. December. 9 2010. The. First private. Company, to send, a spacecraft to, the International Space. Station, dragon, c2, + May. 25th. 2012. The. First private, company, to send a satellite into, geosynchronous, orbit, SES, 8 on Falcon, 9 flight 7. December. 3rd 2013. The. First landing, of an orbital, Rockets, first stage on, land, Vulcan 9 flight 20. December. 22nd. 2015. The. First landing, of an orbital, Rockets, first stage on, an ocean platform, Falken. 9 flight 23. April. 8 2016. The. First relaunch, and landing, of a used orbital, rocket stage B. 1021. On Falcon, 9 flight 32. March. 30th. 2017. The. First controlled. Fly back in recovery, of a payload, fairing, Vulcan 9 flight, 32. March. 30th, 2017. The. First reef light of a commercial, cargo spacecraft. Dragon. C 106. On CRS, 11, mission, June. 3rd, 2017. The first private, company, to send a human-rated, spacecraft to. Space crew, dragon, demo one mission, SPX. Flight, 72. On Falcon, 9 flight 69. March. 2nd, 2019. And the first private, company, to autonomously. Dock a spacecraft. To the International Space. Station same, flight. March. 3rd, 2019. Topic. Setbacks. In March, 2013, a, dragon, spacecraft in, orbit developed. Issues with its thrusters, that limited, its control, capabilities. Spacex. Engineers. Were able to remotely clear, the blockages, within a short period and the spacecraft, was able to successfully, complete its, mission to and from the International Space, Station. In. June, 2015. CRS. 7 launched, a dragon capsule, atop a falcon 9, to, resupply, the International Space. Station, all. Telemetry. Readings. Were nominal, until 2 minutes and 19 seconds. Into the flight when a loss of helium, pressure was detected. And a cloud of vapor appeared. Outside the second, stage a, few. Seconds, after this the second, stage exploded. The, first stage, continued. To fly for a few seconds, before, disintegrating. Due to aerodynamic, forces. The. Capsule, was thrown off and survived the explosion. Transmitting. Data until, it was destroyed, on impact. Later. It was revealed that the capsule, could have landed intact, if it had software, to deploy its parachutes. In case of the launch mishap. The. Problem, was discovered to, be a failed, two-foot, long steel, strut, purchased, from a supplier, to hold a helium, pressure vessel, that broke free due to the force of acceleration. This. Caused a breach and allowed high pressure, helium to, escape, into the low-pressure propellant. Tank causing, the failure the, dragon. Software issue was also fixed, in addition, to an analysis, of the entire program, in order to ensure, proper abort, mechanisms. Are in place for future, rockets, in the payload, in September. 2016. A falcon, 9 exploded. During a propellant, fill operation. For a standard, pre-launch, static, fire test. The. Payload, the space comm amos 6 communications.
Satellite, Valued, at 200, million dollars, was destroyed. Musk. Described. The event as the most. Difficult. And complex, failure. Ever. In SpaceX's. History, spacex. Reviewed, nearly 3,000. Channels, of telemetry, and video data, covering, a period of, 35, to, 55, milliseconds. For the post-mortem. Musk. Reported. The explosion was, caused by the liquid, oxygen that is used as propellant, turning so cold that it solidified. And it ignited, with carbon, composite, helium, vessels. Though. Not considered, an unsuccessful, flight. The, rocket explosion. Sent, the company into, a four-month, launch hiatus. While it worked out what went wrong and SpaceX. Returned, to flight in January. 2017. You. Topic. Ownership. Funding. And valuation. In, August, 2008. SpaceX. Accepted, a twenty million dollars, investment, from Founders, Fund, in. Early, 2012, approximately. Two-thirds. Of the company, were owned by its founder, and his 70, million shares, were then estimated, to be worth eight hundred, and seventy, five million dollars, on private, markets, which roughly valued, SpaceX, at 1.3, billion dollars, as of February, 2012. After. The, cots 2 plus flight in May 2012. The company, private equity. Valuation. Nearly doubled to 2.4. Billion dollars. In. January. 2015. SpaceX. Raised 1 billion dollars, in funding from Google, and fidelity in exchange, for, 8.33. 3 percent, of the company, establishing. The company, valuation at, approximately. 12 billion dollars. Google. And fidelity, joined, prior investors. Draper, Fisher Jurvetson, founders. Fund valor, Equity, Partners in, Capricorn. In. July. 2017. The company, raised. 350. Million dollars at a valuation, of, 21, billion dollars as of May 2012. SpaceX. Had operated, on total, funding, of approximately. 1 billion dollars, in its first 10 years of operation of. This. Private. Equity, provided, about 200. Million dollars with musk investing. Approximately. 100. Million dollars, and other investors. Having, put in about 100. Million dollars found, this fund Draper, Fisher Jurvetson. The, remainder has come from progress, payments, on long-term launch, contracts. And development, contracts. By. March 2018. SpaceX. Had contracts. For 100. Launch missions, and each of those contracts. Provide, down payments. At contract, signing, plus many are paying progress, payments, as launch vehicle, components. Are built in advance of mission launch driven, in part by, US accounting.
Rules For recognizing. Long-term, revenue. Congressional. Testimony by, SpaceX. In, 2017. Suggested. That the NASA Space, Act agreement. Process of setting. Only a high-level requirement. For cargo, transport. To the space station while, leaving, the details, to industry. Had, allowed SpaceX. To design, and develop the Falcon, 9 rocket on, its own at substantially. Lower cost, according. To NASA's, own independently. Verified, numbers. SpaceX's. Development. Costs, of both the Falcon, 1 and Falcon, 9 rocket swery. Stomates. Approximately. 390. Million. Dollars, in total. Quote. In. 2011. NASA, estimated. That it would have cost the agency about four billion dollars, to develop a rocket like the Falcon 9 booster. Based upon NASA's traditional. Contracting. Processes. The. Falcon, 9 launch system. With an estimated, improvement. At least four to ten times over traditional, cost plus contracting. Estimates, about 400. Million dollars versus. Four billion dollars, in savings through, the usage of Space Act agreements. You. Topic. Spacecraft. And flight hardware. SpaceX. Currently, manufactures. Three broad classes, of rocket, engine in-house the, kerosene, fueled Merlin engines, the methane, fueled Raptor, engines, and the hypergolic, fueled, Draco, super, Draco vernier. Thrusters. The. Merlin powers, the two main space, launch, vehicles, the Falcon, 9 which, flew successfully, into, orbit, on its maiden launch in June 2010. And the super-heavy Class, Falcon. Heavy which, was launched, for the first time, on February, 6th, 2018. SpaceX. Also, manufactures. The dragon a pressurized. Orbital, spacecraft that, is launched, on top of a falcon 9 booster. To carry cargo to low-earth orbit. And the follow-on dragon to spacecraft, or, crew, dragon currently, in the process of being human, rated, through a variety of, design, reviews, and flight tests, that began in 2014. You. Topic. Rocket. Engines. Since. The founding, of SpaceX, in, 2002. The company has developed three, families, of rocket, engines. Merlin, and the retired, Kestrel, for launch vehicle, propulsion. And the Draco, control, thrusters. SpaceX. Is currently, developing, to further rocket, engines, super. Draco and Raptor. SpaceX. Is currently, the world's, most prolific, producer. Of liquid, fuel rocket, engines, Merlin, is a family, of rocket, engines, developed, by SpaceX, for use on its Falcon, rocket family. Merlin. Engines, use lox and RP 1 as propellants, in a gas generator power. Cycle. The, merlin. Engine, was originally, designed for sea recovery, and reuse the. Injector. At the heart of merlin is of the pintle, type that was first used in the Apollo program for, the lunar module landing. Engine. Propellant. Safed via a single shaft, dual, impeller, turbo, pump. Kestrel. Is a LOX rp1. Pressure, fed, rocket, engine, and was used as the Falcon 1 rocket second, stage main engine, it. Is built around the same pintle, architecture. As SpaceX's. Merlin engine, but does not have a turbo, pump and is fed only by tank pressure, its. Nozzle, is ablative, Lee cooled in the chamber, and throat, is also, radiatively. Cooled and, is fabricated. From a high-strength. Niobium. Alloy. Both. Names for the merlin and Kestrel, engines, are derived from species. Of North American, Falcons, the Kestrel, in the merlin Draco, a hypergolic, liquid, propellant, rocket, engines, that utilize, monomethylhydrazine. Fuel. And nitrogen, tetroxide, oxidizer. Each. Draco. Thrusters. 400. Newton's 90. Lbf, of thrust. They. Used, as reaction, control, system, RCS. Thrusters. On the Dragon, spacecraft. Super. Draco engines. Are a much more powerful, version, of the Draco, thrusters which. Were initially meant, to be used as landing, and launch escape, system engines. On the version to Dragon spacecraft, Dragon, 2 the.
Concept, Of using retro, rockets, for landing, was scrapped, in, 2017. When it was decided to perform a traditional parachute. Descent, and splashdown. At sea Raptor, is a new family, of methane, fueled full flow staged, combustion, cycle. Engines, to be used in its future interplanetary. Transport, system. Development. Versions. Have been test-fired. And fully operational, ones, are being readied for firing. For upcoming, star hopper tests, in March to April, 2019. You. Topic. Vulcan. Launch vehicles. Since. 2010. SpaceX. Has flown all its missions, on the Falcon, nine with one test flight of Falcon. Heavy, they. Previously. Developed and flew the Falcon, one Pathfinder. Vehicle. Falcon. One was a small, rocket, capable, of placing several, hundred, kilograms, into, low-earth orbit. It. Functioned. As an early testbed, for developing. Concepts. And components. For the larger, Falcon, 9. Falcon. One attempted, five flights, between. 2006. And 2009. With. Falcon, i when musk announced, his plans for it before a subcommittee, in the Senate, in, 2004. He discussed, that Falcon I would be the world's, only semi reusable. Orbital, rocket, apart, from the space shuttle on. September. 28. 2008. On its fourth attempt, the Falcon, 1 successfully. Reached orbit becoming. The first privately, funded, liquid-fueled. Rocket to do so Falcon. 9 is an EE L V class medium, lift vehicle, capable of delivering up, to twenty, two thousand, eight hundred kilograms. 50 thousand. Two hundred and, sixty-five, pounds, to orbit, and is intended, to compete, with the Delta 4 in the Atlas, V rockets, as well, as other launch providers. Around the world, it. Has nine Merlin, engines, in its first stage, the. Falcon, 9 v 1.0. Rocket, successfully reached. Orbit, on its first attempt, On June 4 2010. Its. Third, flight, cots, demo, flight 2, launched, on may 22nd. 2012, and, was the first commercial, spacecraft to. Reach and dock with the International Space. Station. The. Vehicle, was upgraded, to falcon 9 v 1.1. In 2013. And again in 2015. To the current falcon 9 full, thrust, version, as of. February, 2018. Falcon. 9 vehicles, have flown 49. Successful. Missions, with one failure, the CRS. And mission an. Additional. Vehicle, was destroyed, during a routine test, several, days prior to a scheduled, launch in, 2016. In. 2011. SpaceX. Began, development, of the Falcon, Heavy a heavy lift rocket configured. Using a Custer, of three Falken, nine first stage, cores with a total, 27. Merlin, 1b, engines, and propellant, cross-feed, the. Falcon, Heavy successfully. Flew on its inaugural, mission, on February, 6th, 2018. With a payload, consisting. Of Musk's personal, Tesla, Roadster, into heliocentric. Orbit the first stage, would be capable, of lifting sixty. Three thousand, eight hundred kilograms. 140,000. 660. Pounds to. Leo with the 27, merlin, 1d engines. Producing. 22,000. 819, kilonewtons. Of thrust at, sea level and. 24,000. 681. Kilonewtons. In space. At. The time of its first launch, SpaceX. Described, the Falcon, Heavy as the. World's, most powerful, rocket in, operation. Topic. Dragon. Capsules. In. 2005. SpaceX. Announced, plans to pursue a human-rated, commercial. Space program. Through the end of the decade. The. Dragon is a conventional. Blunt cone ballistic, capsule which, is capable of carrying cargo. Or up to seven astronauts, into orbit and, beyond in, 2006. NASA. Announced, that the company, was one of two selected, to provide crew, and cargo resupply. Demonstration. Contracts. To the ISS, under the cots program. Spacex, demonstrated. Cargo, resupply and. Eventually, crewed, transportation. Services, using, the dragon, the. First flight of a dragon, structural, test article took. Place in june 2010. From launch complex, 40, at Cape Canaveral. Air Force Station. During the maiden flight of the Falcon 9, launch vehicle. The mock-up dragon, lacked avionics. Heat, shield and other key elements, normally, required, of a fully operational, spacecraft. But, contained, all the necessary characteristics. To, validate, the flight performance, of the launch vehicle an. Operational. Dragon spacecraft was. Launched, in December, 2010. Aboard, cots demo, flight 1 the Falcon, 9 second. Flight and safely, returned, to Earth after two orbits, completing. All its mission, objectives. In. 2012. Dragon. Became the first commercial. Spacecraft to, deliver cargo to the International. Space Station and, has since been conducting. Regular resupply. Services to, the ISS. In. April. 2011, NASA. Issued a. $75,000,000. Contract, as part, of its second-round, Commercial. Crew development. Ccdev. Program. For SpaceX, to develop an integrated, launch escape system for.
Dragon In preparation. For human, rating, it is a crewed transport. Vehicle, to the ISS. In. August, 2012. NASA. Awarded, SpaceX. A firm fixed, price sa-ay, with, the objective, of producing, a detailed design, of the, hiya crew transportation. System. This. Contract. Includes, numerous, key technical, and certification. Milestones. An uncrewed, flight test a crewed, flight test and six, operational. Missions, following, system, certification. The. Fully autonomous. Crew Dragon, spacecraft is. Expected, to be one of the safest crewed, spacecraft, systems. Reusable. In nature, the crew Dragon will offer savings. To nasa spacex. Plans to launch its dragon, 2 spacecraft. On an uncrewed, test flight to the ISS in. November, 2018, and in April, 2019. Accrued. Dragon, will send US astronauts. To the ISS for. The first time since the retirement of the space shuttle, in. February. 2017. SpaceX. Announced, that two would be space tourists. Had put down. Significant. Deposits. For. A mission which would see the two tourists. Fly onboard a dragon capsule, around the moon and back again. In addition. To SpaceX's, privately, funded plans for an eventual Mars, mission, NASA, Ames Research Center had. Developed, a concept called, red dragon, a low-cost, Mars mission, that would use Falcon, Heavy as the launch vehicle, and trans Martian, injection, vehicle, and the Dragon capsule to, enter the Martian atmosphere. The. Concept, was originally envisioned. For launch in 2018, as, a NASA discovery. Mission, then alternatively. For 2022. The objectives. Of the mission would be return the samples, from Mars to earth at a fraction of the cost of the NASA own returned, sample, mission, now projected. At six billion dollars, in September. 2017. Elon, Musk released, first prototype. Images, of the spacesuits, to be used in future missions. The. Suit is in testing, phase and it is designed, to cope with 280m. Pressure, in vacuum, the crew Dragon, spacecraft was. First sent to space on March 2nd, 2019. You. Topic. Research. And development. SpaceX. Is actively, pursuing several. Different, research, and development, programs. Most. Notable, of those intended, to develop reusable launch, vehicles, an interplanetary. Transport. System. And the global. Telecommunications. Network. SpaceX. Has on occasion developed. New engineering, development, technologies. To enable it to pursue, its various, goals. For. Example, at the 2015. GPU. Technology, conference. SpaceX. Revealed, their own computational. Fluid dynamics. CFD. Software. To improve the simulation. Capability. Of evaluating, rocket, engine combustion, design. You. Topic. Reusable. Launch System. SpaceX's. Reusable. Launcher, program, was publicly, announced in 2011.
And The design phase was completed in, February 2012. The. System. Returns the, first stage, of a falcon 9 rocket to. A predetermined, landing. Site using, only its own propulsion, systems. SpaceX's. Active, test program, began, in late 2012. With, testing, low-altitude, low-speed. Aspects. Of the landing, technology. Grasshopper. And the Falcon, 9 reusable. Development. Vehicles, f9r. Dev, were experimental. Technology. Demonstrator. Reusable. Rockets, that perform, vertical. Takeoffs, and landings. High. Velocity, high altitude. Aspects, of the booster, atmospheric. Return technology. Began testing, in late 2013, and. Have continued, through 2018. With a 98%. Success rate, to date as a. Result, of Elon Musk's, goal of crafting, more cost-effective. Launch vehicles. SpaceX. Conceived, a method, to reuse, the first stage, of the primary, rocket, the Falcon, 9 by, attempting, propulsive. Vertical, landings, on solid, surfaces. Once. The company, determined. That soft landings, were feasible by touching down over the Atlantic. And Pacific Ocean. They began landing attempts. On a solid, platform. SpaceX. Leased and modified, several, barges. To sit out at sea as a target, for the returning, first stage, converting. Them to autonomous. Spaceport. Drone ships, ASDs. Spacex, first achieved, a successful, landing and recovery of the first stage, in december, 2015. And, in april 2016. The first stage, booster first, successfully. Landed, on the ASD s of course I still love you, SpaceX, continues, to carry out first stage, landings, on every orbital, launch that fuel margins, allow, by. October. 2016. Following. The successful, landings. SpaceX. Indicated. They were offering, their customers, 10%, price discount. If they choose to fly the payload. On a reused, Falcon, 9 first stage, on. March. 30th, 2017. SpaceX. Launched, her flight. Proven. Falken. 9 for the SES, 10 mission, this. Was the first time a relaunch. Of a payload, carrying orbital. Rocket, went back to space. The. First stage, was recovered, and landed on the ASDs. Of course I still love you in the Atlantic, Ocean also. Making it the first landing, of a reused, orbital, cast rocket. Elon. Musk called the achievement, an incredible. Milestone in, the history of space. You. Topic. Interplanetary. Transport, system. Bfr. SpaceX. Is developing, a super, heavy lift launch system. The bf are, the. BF R is a fully, reusable first. Stage launch, vehicle. And spacecraft, intended. To replace all of the company's, existing, hardware, by the early, 2020s. Ground. Infrastructure. For rapid launch and relaunch, and zero, gravity propellant. Transfer technology. In low-earth orbit. Leo. Spacex. Initially, envisioned, the it's vehicle, design, which was solely aimed at Mars transit, and, other interplanetary. Uses, SpaceX. In, 2017. Began, to focus on a vehicle support. All SpaceX. Launch service, provider, capabilities. Earth orbit, lunar, orbit, interplanetary. Missions, and even. Intercontinental. Passenger. Transport, on earth. Private. Passenger yosaku. Misawa. Has been signed to fly around the moon in the bfr rocket, Musk's, long-term vision, for the company, is the development, of technology. And resources, suitable, for human colonization, on, Mars. He. Has expressed, his interest, in someday, traveling, to the planet, stating. I'd, like to die on Mars just, not on impact. A rocket. Every two years or, so could provide a base, for the people, arriving in, 2025. After, a launch in, 2024. According. To Steve Jurvetson must. Believes, that by, 2035. At the latest there, will be thousands. Of rockets flying, a million people, to Mars in order, to enable a self-sustaining. Human, colony. You. Topic. Other, projects. In January. 2015. SpaceX. CEO Elon Musk. Announced, the development of a new satellite, constellation. To provide global broadband. Internet, service, in. June, 2015. The company, asked, the federal government, for permission to begin testing for a project, that aims to build a constellation, of. 4425. Satellites. Capable of beaming, the internet to the entire, globe, including remote. Regions, which currently, do not have internet, access. The. Internet, service would use a constellation, of. 4425. Cross-linked. Communication. Satellites. In. 1,100. Kilometres orbits. Owned. And operated by. Spacex, the goal of the business, is to increase, profitability, and, cash flow to allow SpaceX. To build its Mars colony. Development. Began in 2015. Initial, prototype. Test flight satellites. Were launched, on the SpaceX, Paz mission, in 2017. Initial. Operation. Of the constellation. Could begin as early as 2020. As of. March, 2017. SpaceX. Filed with the US regulatory. Authorities. Plans to field a constellation, of, an additional. 7,500. And 18 V band satellites. In non geosynchronous. Orbits. To provide, communication. Services. In. An electromagnetic. Spectrum. That had not previously been. Heavily. Employed, for commercial. Communications. Services. Called.
The V, band low-earth, orbit, V elio. Constellation. It would consist, of seven. Thousand. Five hundred and eighteen, satellites. To follow the earlier, proposed. 4425. Satellites. That would function in car and ku-band. In, February. 20 nineteen. Sixties. Two company, SpaceX, Services. Inc to, license, the manufacture. And deployment, of up to 1, million fixed, satellite, earth stations. That will communicate with, its StarLink, system, in June 2015. SpaceX. Announced that they would sponsor, a Hyperloop, competition. And would build a one mile long 1.6. Kilometers sub, scale test track near SpaceX's. Headquarters. For the competitive, events. The. First competitive. Event was held at the track in January, 2017. In, the second, in August, 2017. And, the. Third in December, 2018. You. Topic. Infrastructure. SpaceX. Is headquartered. In Hawthorne, California, which, also serves as its primary, manufacturing. Plant. The. Company, owns a test site in Texas. And operates, three launch sites, with, another under, development. SpaceX. Also, operates, regional, offices, in Redmond, Texas. Virginia and Washington, DC. You. Topic. Headquarters. Manufacturing. And refurbishment. Facilities. SpaceX. Headquarters. Is located in. The Los Angeles suburb, of, Hawthorne, California. The. Large three-story, facility. Originally. Built by Northrop, corporation to. Build Boeing. 747. Fuselages. Houses. SpaceX's, office space, Mission Control and, as of 2018. All vehicle. Manufacturing. In. March, 2018. SpaceX. Indicated. That it would manufacture, its next generation, 9 meters, 30, feet, diameter, launch, vehicle, the bfr, at a new facility it, is building, on the Los Angeles waterfront. In the San Pedro area. The. Company, has leased an 18 acre site, near berth. 240. In the Los Angeles port, for 10 years with multiple, renewals, possible, and will use the site for manufacturing. Recovery, from ship-borne landings, and refurbishment. Of both the bf our booster, and the bf our space ship the area, has one of the largest concentrations, of. Aerospace, headquarters. Facilities. And all subsidiaries. In the US including Boeing. McDonnell. Douglas, main satellite building, campuses. Aerospace. Corp, Raytheon. NASA's, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Air Force, Space Command space. And missile, systems Center. At Los Angeles Air Force Base Lockheed. Martin BAE, Systems Northrop, Grumman and aécio, M etc. With a large pool of aerospace. Engineers. And recent, college engineering. Graduates, SpaceX. Utilizes. A high degree of vertical. Integration in, the production, of its rockets, and rocket engines. SpaceX. Builds, its rocket, engines, rocket, stages. Spacecraft. Principal. Avionics, and all software, in-house in their Hawthorne, facility. Which is unusual, for the aerospace industry. Nevertheless. SpaceX. Still has over 3,000. Suppliers, with some one thousand, one hundred of those delivering. To SpaceX, nearly, weekly, in June, 2017. SpaceX. And they would construct, a facility on. 0.88. Hectares. 2.17. Acres, in Port, Canaveral Florida for, refurbishment, and storage, have previously, flown Falcon. Nine and Falcon, Heavy booster. Cause. You. Topic. Development. And test facilities. SpaceX. Operates, the first rocket development. And test facility. In McGregor, Texas. All. SpaceX. Rocket engines. Are tested on rocket, test stands, and low altitude, VT, VL flight, testing, of the Falcon, 9 grasshopper. V 1.0. And f9 our dev 1 test vehicles, in, 2013-2014. Were. Carried, out at McGregor. 2019. Low altitude. VT, VL testing, of the much larger nine, meter 30, feet, diameter, starship. Test flight rocket, is planned to occur at the SpaceX, South Texas launch, site near Brownsville Texas. Which, is currently, under construction. On January. 23rd. 2019. Strong, winds at the Texas test launch site, blew over the starship, rocket, causing, delays that will take weeks to repair according, to SpaceX, representatives. The company, purchased, the McGregor facilities. From Beall aerospace. Where it refitted, the largest, test stand, for Falcon 9 engine, testing. SpaceX. Has made a number of improvements, to, the facility since. Purchase. And has also extended. The acreage, by purchasing. Several pieces of adjacent. Farmlands. In. 2011. The company announced plans, to upgrade the facility, for launch testing, a V T V L rocket, and then constructed. A half-acre, concrete. Launch facility. In 2012. To support, the grasshopper, test, flight program. As of. October, 2012, the McGregor, facility. Had seven test stands, that are operated. 18. Hours, a day six. Days a week and, is. Building, more test stands, because production, is ramping up then the company, has a large manifest. In the next several years, in. Addition. To routine, testing, dragon, capsules, following, recovery, after, an orbital, mission, a ship to McGregor for defueling, cleanup. And refurbishment. For, reuse in future, missions.
You. Topic. Launch. Facilities. SpaceX. Currently, operates, three orbital, launch sites, a Cape Canaveral Vandenberg. Air Force Base, and, Kennedy, Space Center, and is under construction, on the fourth in Brownsville. Texas. SpaceX. Has indicated. That they see a niche for each of the four orbital, facilities. And that they have sufficient launch, business, to fill each pad, the. Vandenberg. Launch site, enables, highly, inclined orbits. 66. To. 145. Degrees while. Cape Canaveral enables, orbits, of medium, inclination, up to 51, point six degrees. Before. It was retired all Falcon. 1 launches, took place at the Ronald Reagan ballistic. Missile, defense, test site on omluke Island. You. Topic. Cape canaveral. Cape, Canaveral, Air Force Station. Space Launch, Complex 40. S LC, 40, is used, for Falcon, 9 launches, to low-earth and geostationary. Orbits. Slc. 40, is not capable, of supporting Falcon. Heavy launches as. Part. Of space X's booster, reusability, program. The former launch complex. 13, at Cape Canaveral, now renamed, landing, zone 1 has been designated for, use for, falcon 9 first, stage, booster landings. You. Topic. Vandenburg. Vandenberg. Air Force Base, Space, Launch Complex for. East SLC. 4e, is used, for payloads, to polar orbits. The. Vandenberg, site can launch both Falcon, 9 and Falcon. Heavy but, cannot launch too low inclination orbits. The. Neighboring, SLC, 4 W has been converted, to landing, zone fall where, SpaceX. Successfully landed. One Falcon, 9 first stage, booster in October. 2018. You. Topic. Kennedy. Space Center. On April. 14 2014. SpaceX. Signed a 20-year lease, for Launchpad 39a. The. Pad was subsequently. Modified to, support Falcon. 9 and Falcon. Heavy launches. SpaceX. Has launched, 13, Falcon, 9 missions, from launch pad 39a. And, more recently, the Falcon, Heavy On February, 6th. 2018. SpaceX. Intends, to launch the first crewed, missions, to the ISS from. Launch pad 39a. In, 2019. You. Topic. Brownsville. In, August, 2014. SpaceX. Announced they would be building a commercial only, launch facility. At Brownsville, Texas. The. Federal, Aviation, Administration. Released a draft environmental, impact, statement for the proposed, Texas, facility. In April 2013, and, found. That no, impacts, would occur that would force the Federal, Aviation. Administration. To deny SpaceX. A permit, for rocket operations. And. Issued. The permit, in July 2014. SpaceX. Started, construction, on the new launch facility. In 2014. With production, ramping. Up in the latter half of 2015, with, the first suborbital. Launchers, from the facility, in 2019. Real-estate. Packages. At the location. Have been named by SpaceX, with names based on the theme Mars. Crossing. Topic. Satellite. Prototyping. Facility. In January. 2015. SpaceX. Announced, it would be entering, the satellite, production. Business and, global satellite. Internet, business. The. First satellite. Facility. Is a 30,000. Square foot. 2800, square metres, office, building, located in. Redmond, Washington as. Of. January. 2017. A second, facility in, Redmond, was acquired with 40,000. 625. Square feet. 3,800. Square meters. And has become a research, and development lab for, the satellites. In. July, 2016. SpaceX. Acquired, an additional. 740. Square metres 8,000. Square feet creative. Space in Irvine California, Orange. County, to focus on satellite. Communications. You. Topic. Launch. Contracts. SpaceX. One demonstration. And actual, supply, contracts. From NASA for the International. Space Station. ISS, with technology. The company, developed. SpaceX. Is also certified, for US, military launches. Of evolved, expendable launch. Vehicle. Class EE L V payloads. With. Approximately. 30 missions, on manna-fest for, 2018, alone. SpaceX. Represents. Over 12 billion dollars under, contract. You. Topic. NASA. Contracts. You. Topic. Cots. In. 2006. NASA. Announced, that SpaceX, had won a NASA commercial, orbital transportation, services. Cots. Phase, 1 contract. To demonstrate. Cargo, delivery, to the ISS, with a possible, contract, option, for crew transport. This. Contract. Designed, by NASA to provide, seed. Money, through. Space Act agreements. For developing, new capabilities. NASA, paid, SpaceX. 396. Million, dollars, to develop the cargo, configuration. Of the Dragon, spacecraft while. SpaceX. Self invested. More than 500. Million dollars, to develop the Falcon, 9 launch vehicle. These. Space, Act agreements. Have been shown, to have saved NASA millions, of dollars in development, costs.
Making, Rocket development, approximately. Four to ten times cheaper than, if produced, by NASA, alone in December. 2010. The launch of the cots demo, flight one mission, spacex. Became, the first private company, to successfully. Launch orbit. And recover a spacecraft. Dragon. Was successfully. Deployed into, orbit circled, the earth twice and, then made a controlled. Reentry burn, for a splashdown, in the Pacific Ocean. With. Dragons, safe recovery. Spacex. Became, the first private company, to launch orbit. And recover, a spacecraft. Prior, to this mission only, government, agencies. Had been able to recover, orbital, spacecraft. Cots. Demo, flight 2 launched, in May 2012. In which dragon, successfully. Berth with the ISS, marking. The first time that a private, spacecraft had, accomplished, this feat. You. Topic. Commercial. Cargo. Commercial. Resupply services, CRS. Are, a series, of contracts. Awarded by, NASA from, 2008. To 2016. For delivery, of cargo and supplies to the ISS, on commercially. Operated, spacecraft. The. First CRS. Contracts. Were signed in. 2008. And awarded, 1.6, billion dollars to SpaceX, for twelve cargo, transport. Missions, covering, deliveries, to 2016. SpaceX. CRS, won the first of the twelve planned resupply, missions, launched, in October, 2012, achieved. Orbit birthed, and remained on station, for 20, days before, re-entering the atmosphere and. Splashing, down in the Pacific Ocean. CRS. Missions, have flown approximately. Twice a year to the ISS, since then, in. 2015. NASA, extended, the phase 1 contract. By ordering, an additional, three resupply, flights from SpaceX. After. Further extensions. Late in 2015. SpaceX. Is currently, scheduled, to fly a total, of 20, missions a. Second. Phase of contracts. Known as CRS. 2 was solicited, and proposed, in, 2014. They. Were awarded, in January. 2016. For, cargo, transport. Flights beginning, in 2019, and, expected. To last through. 2024. You. Topic. Commercial. Crew. The, Commercial, Crew development. Ccdev. Program. Intends, to develop, commercially. Operated, spacecraft. That are capable of delivering astronauts. To the ISS. Spacex. Did not win a space act agreement in, the first round. Ccdev. Won but during the second, round. Ccdev. To, NASA, rewarded SpaceX. With a contract, worth 75. Million, dollars to further develop, their launch escape system tests. Accrue accommodations. Mock-up, and to further progress, the Falcon, Dragon crew transportation, design. The. Ccdev. Program. Later became, Commercial. Crew integrated capability. Sir. Cap and in August, 2012, NASA. Announced, that SpaceX, had been awarded four, hundred, and forty million dollars, to continued development, and, testing, of its Dragon 2 spacecraft in, September. 2014, NASA, chose SpaceX. And Boeing as, the two companies, that will be funded to develop, systems to transport. Us crews, to and from the ISS. Spacex, 1 2.6. Billion dollars, to complete and, certify, dragon 2 by, 2017. The. Contracts. Include, at least one, crewed, flight test with at least one nasa astronaut, aboard. Once, crew dragon, achieves, nasa, certification. The contract, requires, SpaceX. To conduct, at least two and as many as six crewed, missions, to the space station. In. Early, 2017. SpaceX. Was awarded, for additional, crewed missions, to the ISS from. NASA to shuttle astronauts, back and forth. You. Topic. U.s., defense. Contracts. In. 2005. SpaceX. Announced that it had been awarded an indefinite, delivery indefinite. Quantity. IDIQ. Contract. For Responsive, small space lifts RSS, launch, services. By the United. States Air Force which, could allow the Air Force to purchase, up to 100, million dollars, worth of launchers from the company, in.
April, 2008. NASA. Announced, that it had awarded, an IDIQ, launch, services. Contract. To SpaceX, for up to 1 billion dollars, depending, on the number of missions awarded. The. Contract covers. Launch, services. Ordered, by June 2010. For launches, through December, 2012. Musk. Stated. In the same, 2008. Announcement. That SpaceX, has sold, 14, contracts. For flights on the various, Falcon, vehicles. In. December. 2012. SpaceX. Announced its first to launch contracts. With the United States Department of, Defense the. United. States Air Force space, and missile, system, Center awarded, SpaceX, to EE LV class missions, deep space climate Observatory. Dscovr. And. Space, test, program to, STP. To. Dscovr. Was. Launched, on a falcon 9 launch vehicle. In 2015. While, STP. - will be launched, on a Falcon, Heavy in 2019. In May 2015. The, United, States, Air Force announced, that the Falcon, 9 V, 1.1. Was certified, for launching, national. Security. Space missions. Which. Allows SpaceX. To contract, launch services. To the Air Force for, any payloads, classified. Under national, security. This. Broke the monopoly held, since. 2006. By Euler over, the US Air Force launches, of classified. Payloads, in April, 2016. The, US Air Force awarded, the first such national security. Launch an eighty two point seven, million dollars. Contract, to SpaceX, to launch the second, GPS, three satellite, in May 2018. This estimated. Cost was approximately. Forty percent less than the estimated, cost for similar, previous, missions. Prior. To this United. Launch Alliance was, the only provider, certified. To launch national. Security. Payloads. Allah. Did not submit, a bid for the may 2018. Launch in. 2016. The US National, Reconnaissance Office, said, it had purchased, launches, from SpaceX, the first four NRO, l76. Took place on the first of May, 2017. In March, 2017. Spacex, 1 versus allah with a bid of ninety, six point five million dollars, for the third gps. Three launch due, February. 2019. In March, 2018. SpaceX. Secured, an additional, two hundred and ninety million, dollars contract. From the US Air Force to launch three next-generation, GPS. Satellites. Known, as GPS. Three, the. First of these launches, is, expected, to take place in March 2020. In February. 20, 1962. Hundred. And ninety, seven million dollars, contract, from the US. Air. Force to launch three national, security. Missions, including. AF SPC. 44. NRO L 87. And n rol 85. All slated. To launch net, FY. 2021. You. Topic. International. Contracts. You. Topic. Kazakhstan. SpaceX. Won a contract, to launch to Kazakhstan. Satellites. Aboard, the Falcon, 9 launch rocket. On a ride share with other satellites. The. Take-off, was scheduled, for November. 19th, 2018. According, to, the Kazakh, defense, and aerospace, ministry. The launch from SpaceX, would cost the country, 1.3. Million dollars. The. Two small, satellites. Are named Kaz CSAT and kazoo sh t sat. You. Topic. Launched, market. Competition, and, pricing, pressure. SpaceX's. Low launch prices. Especially. For communication. Satellites, flying, to geostationary. GTO. Orbit have, resulted. In market, pressure on its competitors. To lower their own prices. Prior. To 2013, the. Openly, competed, COMSAT launch market, had been dominated. By Arian, space flying, Ariane, 5 and international. Launch services. Flying, proton. With. A published, price of 56, point five million dollars, per launch to low-earth orbit. Vulcan. Nine Rockets, were already, the cheapest, in the industry. Reusable. Falcon, nines could, drop the price by an order of magnitude. Sparking. More space-based, enterprise. Which, in turn would drop the cost of access to space still. Further through, economies, of scale. SpaceX. Has publicly, indicated. That if they are successful with developing, the reusable, technology launch. Prices. In the $5, to 7 million range for the reusable, Falcon 9 are possible, in 2014. SpaceX. Had won nine contracts. Out of 20 that were openly, competed. Worldwide, in, 2014. At commercial, launch service, providers. Space. Media, reported. That SpaceX, had already, begun. To take market. Share, from. Arian, space, Arian. Space has requested, that European. Governments, provide additional, subsidies. To face the competition from, SpaceX. European. Satellite, operators. Are pushing the ESA, to reduce, Ariane, 5 and, the future, re and six rocket, launch prices. As a result of, competition, from, SpaceX. According. To one Arian, space managing, director, in 2015. It was clear that a, very, significant. Challenge, was coming, from SpaceX. Therefore. Things, have to change. And the, whole European. Industry, is being restructured. Consolidated. Rationalized. And streamlined. Jean. Botti director. Of innovation for, Airbus which makes the Ariane 5 warned. That those. Who don't take Elon, Musk, seriously. Will have a lot to worry about. In. 2014. No commercial. Launchers, were booked to fly on the Russian, Proton rocket also. In 2014. SpaceX. Capabilities. And pricing, began to affect the market for, launch of US military payloads.
For. Nearly a decade the large US, launch provider, United. Launch Alliance Lula. Had faced no competition, for military, launchers. Without. This competition. Launch costs. By the US, provider, rose, to over 400. Million dollars. The. Eula monopoly, ended when SpaceX, began, to compete, for national, security launchers. At. A side-by-side. Comparison. SpaceX's. Launch costs, for commercial, missions are considerably. Lower at 62. Million dollars, in 2015. Anticipating. A slump in domestic, military and, spy launches. Lula stated, that it would go out of business unless, it one commercial. Satellite, launch orders. To. That end, Ola announced, a major restructuring, of, processes, and workforce, in order to decrease launch, costs, by half in, 2017. Spacex. Had. 45%. Global, market, share for, awarded, commercial, launch contracts. The estimate, for 2018, is, about 65. Percent as, of July 2018. On January, 11th. 2019. SpaceX. Issued, a statement announcing, it, will layoff 10 percent of its workforce in, order to help finance, the starship, and styling projects. Equals, equals, see also.
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