Hawthorne, CA - December 1, 2008 – Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)
announces the addition of two DragonLab missions to its manifest, as a
result of demand from a successful workshop held at SpaceX headquarters
on November 6 to introduce the new DragonLab product. The first two
flights are scheduled for 2010 and 2011 respectively from the SpaceX
Falcon 9 launch site at Complex 40, Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX is
currently working contractual arrangements with multiple prospective
customers.
DragonLab is a free-flying, reusable spacecraft capable of hosting
pressurized and unpressurized payloads to and from space. It is the
newest commercial offering from SpaceX. DragonLab launches to orbit
aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
DragonLab provides a platform for in-space experimentation, including
recovery of pressurized and some unpressurized payloads, as well as
deployment of small spacecraft. As a complete system, DragonLab
provides for all aspects of operation: propulsion, power, thermal
control, environmental control, avionics, communications, thermal
protection, flight software, guidance, navigation and control, entry,
descent and landing and recovery.
"The response to our DragonLab rollout has been absolutely astounding,"
said Max Vozoff, Product Manager for Dragon and DragonLab. "Our
workshop was at full capacity and we even had to turn away qualified
people. With the U.S. Space Shuttle retiring in two years, clearly
there is great demand from principal investigators, companies and
institutions looking for ways to fly payloads in space and return them
to Earth," said Vozoff. "We are adding these missions to our SpaceX
manifest to provide firm launch dates for users to work toward.
Definitely one mission won't be enough to meet the large demand."
Attending the November 6 SpaceX DragonLab workshop
were representatives from six NASA centers, NASA headquarters, the
Department of Defense, university research departments and commercial
aerospace companies. Attendees discussed their needs for using
DragonLab for materials research, life sciences, biotech, radiation
effects, thermal protection system validation, and robotic spacecraft
servicing applications. In addition, attendees toured the 550,000
square-foot SpaceX headquarters and manufacturing facility, viewing the
Dragon spacecraft Qualification structure (just prior to its shipment
to Texas for structural testing); heat shield material production and
samples; the qualification and first flight
Falcon 9 first stages;
Merlin engines and other propulsion components; the transporter-erector
and other launch pad systems being prepared for shipment to Cape
Canaveral for the Falcon 9's arrival at its launch site by year end.
About SpaceX
SpaceX is revolutionizing access to space by developing a family of
launch vehicles and spacecraft intended to increase the reliability and
reduce the cost of both manned and unmanned space transportation,
ultimately by a factor of ten. With its Falcon line of launch vehicles,
powered by internally-developed Merlin
engines, SpaceX offers light, medium and heavy lift capabilities to
deliver spacecraft into any altitude and inclination, from low-Earth to
geosynchronous orbit to planetary missions. On September 28, 2008,
Falcon 1, designed and manufactured from the ground up by SpaceX,
became the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to orbit the
Earth.
As a winner of the NASA Commercial Orbital
Transportation Services competition (COTS), SpaceX is in a position to
help fill the gap in American spaceflight to the International Space
Station (ISS) when the Space Shuttle retires in 2010. Under the
existing Agreement, SpaceX will conduct three flights of its Falcon 9
launch vehicle and Dragon
spacecraft for NASA, culminating in Dragon berthing with the ISS.
SpaceX is the only COTS contender with the capability to return cargo
and crew to Earth. NASA also has an option to demonstrate crew services
to the ISS using the Falcon 9 / Dragon system. The first Falcon 9 will
arrive at the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch site at Complex 40, Cape Canaveral
within the next few months, in preparation for its maiden flight in
2009.
Founded in 2002, the SpaceX team now numbers more
than 600, located primarily in Hawthorne, California, with additional
locations, including SpaceX's Texas Test Facility in McGregor near
Waco; offices in Washington DC; and launch facilities at Cape
Canaveral, Florida, and the Marshall Islands in the Central Pacific.