SpaceX COTS Demo 2/3 mission launched May 22nd also a memorial to "Mr. Scott" and others

Celestis New Frontier Flight

The SpaceX COTS Demo 2/3 mission also carried a portion of the remains of James Doohan (who played "Scotty" on the popular Star Trek series), into a ceremonial orbit -- reentering the atmosphere with the SpaceX sustainer rocket on June 26th, after orbiting the earth 576 times.  The company behind this mission is Celestis.  This quote from their homepage describes their services:

"Leaving Earth to touch the cosmos is an experience few have ever known, but many have often dreamed of. Celestis makes it possible to honor the dream and memory of your departed loved one by launching a symbolic portion of cremated remains into Earth orbit, onto the lunar surface or into deep space. Missions into space that return the cremated remains to Earth are also available."

Also among the 320 participants of the "New Frontier Flight" was Mercury Seven NASA astronaut L. Gordon Cooper.

This was SpaceX's second Celestis flight.  The 3rd Falcon 1 launch, on August 2nd, 2008, was the vehicle for "The Explorer's Flight" (Celestis' 7th flight).  Unfortunately, a launch problem prevented a successful mission.  A symbolic portion of the remains of James Doohan and L. Gordan Cooper were also aboard this flight, and one of the mission graphics reflects this by including a tiny Star Trek patch and Mercury 9 mission patch in it (see below).

SpaceX Falcon 1, Flight 3

SpaceX Dragon completes first leg of mission

With the opening of the hatch to the Dragon spacecraft by International Space Station (ISS) Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide, SpaceX officially becomes the first commercial cargo delivery to the ISS.  This cargo includes the much talked about ice cream.  This mission continues their record-setting streak.  In their May ISS cargo supply demonstration flight SpaceX became the first commercial company to dock with the ISS, and this new first is a continuation of that ground-breaking effort.

In addition to these firsts, the Dragon spacecraft is providing another new capability: the ability to return significant amounts of cargo to earth.  Other resupply spacecraft are filled with trash and allowed to burn up on re-entry, as shown here.  The only other spacecraft that returns to earth after its mission is the manned Soyuz spacecraft, whose primary purpose is returning crew from the ISS and has very limited cargo capacity.

During Dragon's May demo mission, it demonstrated its ability to return cargo safely to earth by bringing back 660 kilograms of cargo.  One of the most significant aspects of the current mission is the scheduled to return 1,384 lb. (about 628 kg) to earth, including scientific experiments and samples.  This capability fills a large gap left by the retirement of the Space Shuttle - which left the severely limited Soyuz spacecraft as the only means to return cargo to earth.

So, while the SpaceX mission is historical in that it is the first commercial resupply mission, it's upcoming return to earth - laden with cargo - is actually the bigger accomplishment.

SpaceX Dragon on it way to ISS

Following last night's successful launch of the Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon spacecraft is in orbit and proceeding with it's CRS-1 mission.  If you missed the launch, here are photos and video.

Dragon is in pursuit of the ISS, as can be seen here (great visualization - highly recommended).  Dragon is conducting a series of burns today to close the distance between the craft and establish a circular orbit.  Tomorrow it is scheduled to slowly approach the station - getting approval to proceed at various distances - until it is within reach of the ISS's Canada arm, where it will be grabbed and moved into docking position.  The following day the hatch will be opened and the offloading of cargo will start.  I wonder if the ISS crew will go straight for the ice cream.

But not all went perfectly, as it appears that one of the engines may have "blown out".  The Falcon rocket is designed to be able to obtain orbit even with an engine failure - which it did by autonomously shutting down the engine and burning the other 8 longer in order to achieve the orbit needed for ISS rendezvous.  And while this successfully demonstrated Falcon's "engine-out" capability (it's ability to survive an engine failure), it may have jeopardized the orbit of the secondary payload that was deployed (an Orbcomm satellite that was supposed to be placed into a 300 × 750 km orbit, but which may have fallen short).  I will followup on this the details emerge.

Still, another good launch for the Falcon rocket.  And SpaceX is on the way to making history... again.  And the U.S. has established an American resupply capability.  We still need to rely on international partners for crew transport - for now - but this is a big step in the right direction.

Congratulations SpaceX!  Congratulations NASA!

[Update]  According to an Orbcomm press release, the satellite was indeed placed into a "lower than intended" orbit.  Orbcomm is working with the manufacturer's engineers to determine if the satellite's on-board propulsion can be used to obtain the required working orbit.  According to the press release, although the engine failure was compensated for, it caused the rocket to fail a "pre-planned International Space Station (ISS) safety gate", which disallowed a second burn that was needed to place the satellite into the desired orbit.

SpaceX: All systems are "Go"

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is on a fiery upward trajectory. 

Please excuse the somewhat cheesy analogy, but they're certainly the current darling of the media and the public.  I visited Hawthorne, CA over the summer, and the local residents are both excited and proud of SpaceX.  It may end up being the biggest thing to come out of Hawthorne since the Beach Boys.  Their location - adjacent to the Hawthorne Municipal Airport, close to a major East-West freeway (the 105), and near the LA International Airport - is in a part of Hawthorne that is undergoing rejuvenation, with new retail businesses springing up in the surrounding area (I happened to be going to the Lowe's which turned out to be a pretty new store, just a block away from SpaceX).  I don't know if SpaceX has any thing to do with the localized boom, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it is helping lift Hawthorne's economy and housing values.

And business is up for the company.  In addition to their recent contract awards with NASA, they have just added several new commercial flight bookings to their backlog.  

Of course the biggest news at the moment is their first International Space Station resupply mission, CRS-1 (SpaceX press kit), scheduled for lift off tomorrow.  This mission comes just over 4 months after having proved their capability with their final COTS demo missions (NASA press kit, NASA COTS - Commercial Orbital Transportation Services).  If you're following SpaceX, or the space industry in general, you've heard the details already from dozens of sources.  But if not, the launch is scheduled for 8:35 pm tomorrow - Sunday, October 7th - from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 40.  Details can be found at this NASA mission page, and the launch will be telecast live from SpaceX as well as on NASA TV.

And while preparing to become the first commercial resupply mission to the ISS may be the current, and most visible initiative - it isn't the only iron the Hawthorne based company has in the fire.  Other projects that are being actively pursued include: 

• A new, more powerful, Merlin engine; 
• The Falcon Heavy launch vehicle; 
• Development of the SuperDraco engine;
• A human rated version of the Dragon spacecraft to provide "Space Taxi" services;
• The development of a new launch site at the Vandenberg Air Force base; 
• The Grasshopper VTVL which had it's initial test flight last week; 
• And DragonLab, an initiative to outfit the Dragon spacecraft as an orbiting laboratory.

In addition to these well defined initiatives, SpaceX (or at least Elon Musk) has loosely defined goals that are not yet in any concrete phase, such as the "Red Dragon" mission to mars.

Further reading (which I deliberately pulled from a variety of sources):
Comprehensive write up of SpaceX launch capabilities
Merlin 1D Engine
Falcon Heavy
SuperDraco
Human rated Dragon progress 
Vandenberg Launch Site
Falcon Grasshopper
DragonLab