It wasn't exactly a good week for SpaceX, what with their Falcon 1 rocket failing to reach orbit...for the third time in a row. But at least they were able to squeak one good piece of news in the few days that has been August. On August 1st the company announced that it had successfully test fired the first Falcon 9 launch vehicle 1st stage consisting of nine Merlin 1C rocket engines. This milestone helped SpaceX complete a major NASA requirement for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program; in which NASA hopes to use commercial services, like SpaceX and the Falcon 9, to deliver crewmembers and cargo to the International Space Station. The static test firing at their Texas Test Facility outside McGregor had a Falcon 9 first stage burn through 3,200 lbs. of kerosene and liquid oxygen and generated 832,000 pounds of force (lbf). To put it into perspective, that would equate to the maximum thrust of four 747s combined. SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk, said in a statement, “This was the most difficult milestone in development of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and it also constitutes a significant achievement in US space vehicle development." The company has scheduled the first flight of its heavy lifting Falcon 9 rocket for 2009. Hopefully it will have better luck than it's little brother, the Falcon 1. (SpaceX)
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