Internet entrepreneur successfully launches rocket on 4th try
Last Updated: Monday, September 29, 2008 | 10:49 AM ET
CBC News
Related
Internal Links
The co-founder of internet financial services firm, PayPal Inc., launched a commercial rocket into orbit on Sunday in a bid to make space travel affordable for the general public.
The South Pacific launch marked Space Exploration Technologies' fourth attempt to get its two-stage Falcon 1 rocket into orbit.
Elon Musk, who made his fortune with the PayPal electronic payment system, pledged to continue getting rockets into orbit, saying the company has resolved design issues that plagued previous attempts.
Last month, Space Exploration lost three government satellites and human ashes, including the remains of astronaut Gordon Cooper and Star Trek actor James Doohan after its third rocket was lost en route to space. The company blamed a timing error for the failure that caused the rocket's first stage to bump into the second stage after separation.
The company's maiden launch in 2006 failed because of a fuel line leak. Last year, another rocket reached about 290 km above Earth, but its second stage prematurely shut off.
Falcon 1, a 21-metre-long rocket powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene, is the first in a family of low-cost launch vehicles priced at $7.9 million US each.
Besides the Falcon 1, Musk's company is developing for NASA a larger launch vehicle, Falcon 9, capable of flying to the international space station when the current space shuttle fleet retires in 2010.
Interest in commercial space flight has risen in recent years since the 2004 success of SpaceShipOne in achieving sub-orbital flight. Billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic bought the rights to develop a fleet of spaceships based on SpaceShipOne.
In July, Virgin Galactic rolled out the mothership aircraft of its private space tourism business, designed to launch a passenger spaceship into low-Earth orbit.
Meanwhile, Amazon founder Jeffrey Bezos's space venture, Blue Origin, is working to launch satellites and passengers into orbit. And id Software founder John Carmack's space company, Armadillo Aerospace, designs and tests rockets.
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
Top News Headlines
- Dog kills newborn in Alberta community
- Officials in Airdrie are revealing few details about the fatal mauling of an infant by a family dog in the southern Alberta city. more »
- Former Expos catcher Gary Carter succumbs to brain cancer
- Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, who left an indelible mark on baseball in Canada during his 12 years with the Montreal Expos, died on Thursday. The man nicknamed "Kid" or "Kid Carter" for his ever-smiling face and cheerfulness is free from the inoperable brain cancer that sapped his energy and took his life at age 57. more »
- Underwear bomber sentenced to life in prison
- A Nigerian man who tried to blow up an international flight near Detroit on behalf of al-Qaida has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. more »
- 7 MPs and their fiery quotes
- The election of a majority government was seen by some as a chance for less acrimonious politics on Parliament Hill. But the past week has seen its fair share of inflammatory rhetoric on both sides of the House. more »
Latest Technology & Science News Headlines
- Apple to stop apps from stealing smartphone contacts
- Apple says it is making policy changes to stop iPhone apps from copying contacts in users' address books without permission. more »
- Moore defends Canada's 'different path' on copyright bill
- Heritage Minister James Moore says Canada's copyright legislation is taking a very different path from a controversial U.S. piracy bill that drew widespread protests. more »
- Canada helps target pollution in developing world
- Soot and methane pollution in the developing world are being targeted by a new coalition of six countries, including Canada. more »
- Online surveillance bill could change, Harper signals
- The government says it's open to amending its bill that would give police and intelligence agencies new powers to access Canadians' electronic communications and get telecommunications subscriber data. more »
Bob McDonald's Blog
Glacier Discovery Walk: Will the visitor centre enhance the view? Feb. 14, 2012 9:22 AM Environment minister Peter Kent has announced the construction of a new Glacier Discovery Walk and visitor centre on the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park. It raises the issue of how to balance commercial development in our National Parks against the preservation of the last refuges of wilderness.
Quirks & Quarks
- February 18: Guitar Hero, or Guitar Zero? Feb. 15, 2012 10:53 AM An NYU professor of psychology describes how he was able to learn to play the guitar in midlife in spite of a limited musical aptitude, and what it tells us about how our brains learn.
Latest Features
- Dog kills newborn in Alberta community
- Refugee reforms include fingerprints, no appeals for some
- Montreal telemarketers in fraud case still making calls
- Bully victim's mother tells of 'suicide box'
- Degrassi's Wheels death announced, 5 years later
- Honduras prison fire is world's deadliest
- Nortel collapse linked to Chinese hackers
- 2 small earthquakes rattle Vancouver Island
- Barefoot girl's icy trek not blamed on babysitter
