The most notable SpaceX achievement of 2009 was the launch of the first privately-developed liquid-fueled rocket to put a satellite into Earth orbit. The fifth flight of Falcon 1, a two-stage, liquid oxygen/rocket-grade kerosene vehicle designed and manufactured by SpaceX, lifted off on Monday, July 13. This launch placed the Malaysian satellite RazakSAT into a Near-Equatorial Low Earth Orbit (NEqO) at 685 km altitude and a 9 degree inclination, achieving the desired orbit and marking another successful flight.
Falcon 9 leverages the reliability built into the Falcon 1 design by employing the same architecture as the Falcon 1; Falcon 9 also offers engine-out launch capability for the first time in the United States since the Saturn programs. In 2009, SpaceX accomplished a series of major achievements in preparation for the inaugural launch of the new Falcon 9 vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, both designed and built by SpaceX.
The first launch of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle is a demonstration flight and will carry SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft qualification unit, providing valuable aerodynamic and performance data for the Falcon 9 configuration that will fly on the following Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) missions for NASA.
The Falcon 9/Dragon system is poised to provide a complete commercial solution for transporting cargo, and potentially crew, to the International Space Station (ISS). The second flight of the system will begin SpaceXs participation in NASAs COTS program, a first-of-its-kind program that awarded SpaceX three launches to demonstrate the capability to berth with the ISS, transfer cargo, and return the cargo safely to Earth.
In preparation for the COTS flights, 2009 saw the full qualification of the Dragon spacecraft and all associated systems, including DragonEye. SpaceXs DragonEye Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), was launched aboard NASAs STS-127 shuttle mission in July of 2009. Developed in just 10 months from concept to final hardware, the DragonEye LIDAR provides three-dimensional images based on the amount of time it takes for a single laser pulse from the sensor to reach a target and bounce back, and provides range and bearing information from the Dragon spacecraft to the ISS.
Following completion of the COTS program, the Falcon 9/Dragon system will begin to execute the 12 missions under the NASA CRS contract award for transporting a guaranteed minimum of 20,000 kg to the ISS. The firm contracted value is US$1.6 billion, and NASA may elect to order additional missions for a cumulative total contract value of up to US$3.1 billion.
While it will initially be used to transport cargo, the Dragon spacecraft was designed from the beginning to transport crew. Almost all the necessary launch vehicle and spacecraft systems employed in the cargo version of Dragon will also serve the crew version of Dragon. As such, Dragons first cargo missions will provide valuable flight data that will be used in preparation for future crew transport flights. This allows for a very aggressive development timeline approximately three years from the time funding is provided to transform from cargo to crew.
2009 was a great year for SpaceX, and as the team looks forward to 2010, all eyes will be on Cape Canaveral for the first flight of the Falcon 9 / Dragon system. For more information and additional SpaceX 2009 achievements including the qualification of a heat shield reentry material and growth to over 800 employees please visit the companys web site at www.SpaceX.com.