Praises Innovation of “The First Astronaut-Worthy Private Rocket In Orbit”
HAWTHORNE, CA – SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has won a 2010 Popular Science Best of What's New award in Aviation & Space..
“At SpaceX, we have ambitious goals for the future of human
spaceflight. We are working every day to bring about significant
breakthroughs that will improve the reliability and cost of space
transportation,” said Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and CTO. “It is a
tremendous honor for the Falcon 9 to be recognized by the world’s
largest science and technology magazine as one of the best innovations
of 2010..”
Popular Science calls Falcon 9 “The First
Astronaut-Worthy Private Rocket In Orbit” and goes on to explain, “When
NASA retires the space shuttle next year, the only American-owned
option the U.S. government will have for getting cargo to the
International Space Station is to ride with a private spaceflight
company. Such an arrangement became viable in June, when SpaceX’s
Falcon 9—a 180-foot, kerosene-and-liquid-oxygen-fueled rocket capable
of delivering six metric tons of cargo or seven astronauts to
orbit—made its maiden voyage to space.”
Why is SpaceX so proud? As Popular Science says, “SpaceX engineers designed nearly every piece of the rocket from scratch.”
“For 23 years, Popular Science has honored the
innovations that surprise and amaze us − those that make a positive
impact on our world today and challenge our views of what’s possible in
the future,” said Mark Jannot, Editor-in-Chief of Popular Science.
“The Best of What’s New Award is the magazine’s top honor, and the 100
winners − chosen from among thousands of entrants − represent the
highest level of achievement in their fields.”
About SpaceX
SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles and spacecraft
that will increase reliability and performance of space transportation,
while ultimately reducing costs by a factor of ten. With the Falcon 1
and Falcon 9 rockets, SpaceX has a diverse manifest of launches to
deliver commercial satellites to orbit. After the Space Shuttle
retires, the Falcon 9 and SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will start
carrying cargo, including live plants and animals, to and from the
International Space Station for NASA. Falcon 9 and Dragon were
developed to one day carry astronauts.
Founded in 2002, SpaceX is a private company owned by management
and employees, with minority investments from Founders Fund, Draper
Fisher Jurvetson, and Valor Equity Partners. The company has over
1,100 employees in California, Texas and Florida. For more
information, and to watch the video of the first Falcon 9 launch, visit
the SpaceX website at
SpaceX.com.