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NASA / Kim Shiflett
This Dragon spacecraft will launch on the upcoming SpaceX CRS-2 mission. The flight will be the second commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station by SpaceX.
By Miriam Kramer
Space.com
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The weather looks promising for the planned Friday launch of a privately built robotic space capsule to the International Space Station, NASA says.
The unmanned Dragon space capsule, built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., is slated to launch toward the space station Friday at 10:10 a.m. EST. Weather forecasts predict a 80 percent chance of favorable conditions for launch. NASA and SpaceX officials gave the scheduled mission a final "go" for launch earlier Thursday.
"The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the International Space Station," NASA officials said in a mission update. "It will mark the third trip by a Dragon capsule to the orbiting laboratory, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012."
SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to provide 12 unmanned cargo deliveries to the space station. Another company, Orbital Sciences Corp. based in Virginia, has a $1.9 billion contract for eight mission using its own Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft.
The Dragon spacecraft is expected to deliver 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) worth of supplies to the six international crew members on board the station. The capsule is scheduled to return to Earth with 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) of material from the space station when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on March 25.
SpaceX
On Monday, Falcon 9 and Dragon underwent a successful static fire in preparation for launch to the International Space Station. Engineers ran through all countdown processes as if it were launch day, ending with all nine engines on the rocket firing for nearly two seconds.
SpaceX conducted a successful rocket engine test, known as a "static test fire" on Monday. The rocket's 9 Merlin engines were fired for a few seconds while the rocket was held down on the launch pad.
NASA is relying on SpaceX, Orbital Sciences and other private companies to develop new private spacecraft to supply the International Space Station with cargo and ultimately ferry American astronauts into and from low-Earth orbit.
With the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2011, NASA has been dependent on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to fly astronauts to the space station, and use unmanned cargo ships built by Russia, Japan and Europe to deliver supplies to the orbiting laboratory.
The space agency also is developing a new rocket and spacecraft, the Orion space capsule and its Space Launch System mega-rocket, for future deep-space exploration missions to the moon, asteroids and Mars.
You can follow Space.com staff writer Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer. Follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+.
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Integration of the Private sector into the Space Program seems to be less problematic than other areas of the economy, like Education or Prison Operations. The focus of Space contractors has been on safety, quality and long term investment, instead of short term profits and marketing hype.
When you say "problematic", are you referring to problems resulting from privatizing functions like education and prisons, or problems privatizing them in the first place?
Because I believe your two stated examples - prisons and schools - have very different issues in that field.
But you're still correct. Space was never particularly suited to be a government venture - it's a field for pioneers and scientists, not bureaucrats and politicians - but it was the only institution with the resources to cover the enormous expenses and risk involved. It's about time that it entered the private sphere, and I'm very happy to see so many other companies jumping on the new opportunities.
I agree with SF, space exploration is a difficult topic in the political arena since many space programs/missions take years to carry through to fruition, sometimes long beyond the term of the elected officials who would create them. Private sector firms can manage those risks somewhat easier, especially if a high profit potential is in the air.
See, I think there's room for both Government AND Private Sector in the arena of Space - after all, it's big enough.
Government - NASA - is well suited to long-term, long-distance exploration objectives - after all, they don't have to worry about turning a financial profit, only a scientific and cultural one (at least, that's the way it should be).
Private Sector - is well suited to developing the areas that are really no longer the "frontier". LEO space hasn't been a "wild frontier" in quite sometime, considering that just about anyone can get there these days. As a result, the private sector is the perfect group to take over development and commercialization, with appropriate regulation - hands off as much as possible, but there are still rules they must abide by.
It's a symbiosis that could work extremely well - but it's doubtful we'll ever see it's true potential.