Thu, Jul 14, 2011
Vandenberg AFB Will Be The Home Of "The World's Most Powerful
Rocket"
SpaceX CEO and chief rocket designer Elon Musk was joined by
California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, 30th Space Wing Commander Colonel
Richard W. Boltz and Lompoc Mayor John Linn to break ground
Wednesday on a new launch site for the Falcon Heavy–Space
Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Falcon Heavy Artist's Rendering
SpaceX says this will be "the world’s most powerful
rocket," with more than twice the payload-to-orbit capacity of the
space shuttle, but at only one third the cost of the
Boeing/Lockheed Delta IV Heavy. The Falcon Heavy will be the first
ever rocket to break the $1,000-per-pound-to-orbit barrier, less
than a tenth as much as the Shuttle.
With a launch site at Vandenberg and the Falcon Heavy, along
with the medium-lift Falcon 9, SpaceX expects to be able to compete
for the full range of US government business, provided competition
is allowed. Currently, United Launch Alliance, a joint venture
between Boeing and Lockheed, has a sole-source monopoly contract
for Defense Department business. “These are difficult fiscal
times for our federal government and the Falcon vehicles can save
the Department of Defense almost $2 billion per year in launch
costs, while increasing reliability and capability,” said
Musk. “This presents a great opportunity for the DoD to avoid
canceling other programs and minimize reductions in personnel as
budgets contract.”
Falcon Heavy is to arrive at Vandenberg by the end of 2012, and
its inaugural flight will follow soon after. It will be the most
powerful rocket since the Saturn V, which launched the Apollo
spacecraft to the moon. The SpaceX launch vehicle boasts 3.8
million pounds of thrust from its 27 engines–equivalent to
fifteen 747s at full power.
Vandenberg AFB has been the proving ground for US defense
vehicles for more than half a century, from the critical
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile testing that helped win the Cold
War to mighty launch vehicles like the aforementioned Titan. The
Falcon family of launch vehicles will continue this rich tradition,
with its wide range of capabilities for the NRO and other
Department of Defense agencies, NASA and other civil customers, as
well as commercial customers.
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