Falcon 1 Liftoff. Hi-Res image pulled from SpaceX website.

On June 4th I got to witness something special.  Unfortunately many people no longer find this thing interesting.  It was the launch of a space rocket.  Not just any space rocket though, the Falcon 9, a two stage, 55 meter tall rocket capable of producing over 1 million pound-foot of thrust.  The actual rocket is not very spectacular, but who made it and oversaw the launch is.  SpaceX is a private space transport company whos aims are to “re-ignite humanity’s efforts to explore and develop Space.”  SpaceX is special because they were the first ones to launch a private liquid-fueled rocket into orbit, a veritable triumph for the private space industry.  This was done with the Falcon 1 rocket on September 28th 2008.  The F1 was much smaller, coming in at less than twice the size and having ten times less mass than its successor.  The company has been awarded contracts from both NASA and the US Air Force and is expected to help fill the void when the Space Shuttle is officialy retired.

After waiting for 15 minutes during the morning of June 4th, the F9 aborted its first launch attempt just after T zero 10:30AM (Pacific time) due to an “out-of-limit startup parameter.”  At T+ 6 seconds at 11:45AM the F9 achieved liftoff.  I was sad to miss this event, as it would have been the first time I would have ever seen live transmission of a vehicle whose destination was outer-space.  Lucky for me I was able to watch from T+ 1 minute until the F9 crossed the horizon and the video feed was lost.  Which included the amazing second stage separation and ignition (which happened at T+ 3:06 and 3:34 respectively).  It was beautiful to watch the landmasses fade into the distance as the horizon turned from blue to the deep black of space.  Awe inspiring as it was, whatever feelings I felt could only have been shadows of what the pioneers of space travel would have been feeling over 60 years ago.  As it was though, I was still amazed at how quickly earth orbit can be achieved, T+ 9 minutes 4 seconds in this case.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 test launch may have blasted off without much fanfare, but it certainly heralds some mighty changes to how humans reach space.  With the United States government backing off from manned space flight and NASA suffering from devastating budget cuts, it will lie in the hands of companies such as SpaceX to lead what might be a new charge into our solar system.  That is of course, if other countries don’t charge ahead of the good ol’ US of A first.  Which is likely with the direction such countries as China and Japan are headed.  American pride in not being beat out by the USSR fueled the first space race, with a second race looming on the horizon and no public interest in site, how exactly will the once greatest space faring nation step up?

While the 20th century only briefly shined with concerted efforts to reach to the moon and beyond, countless advancements and genius were born from the desire to reach for the stars.  It is my opinion, and hope, that a renewed desire to reach beyond our earthly bounds will propel human imagination to once again accomplish the impossible.