SpaceSimCentral

Here is a great article on the civilian made rocket that could possibly transport NASA astronauts into space. One thing I thought was good is the price so far on the project is $400 million this is usually cheaper than NASA can do it so maybe we will see more of this type of thing?Article: http://www.tgdaily.com/space-features/50077-falcon-9-commercial-spaceship-set-to-blast-off-today
Quote:
A spaceship set to be used as a taxi service for NASA is due to lift off today.The Falcon 9, built by California's SpaceX, should launch from Cape Canaveral at 11.00 Eastern Time, carrying a dummy payload in its Dragon capsule."As always, weather will play a significant role in our overall launch schedule," says CEO Elon Musk. "The weather experts at the Cape are giving us a 40 percent chance of 'no go' conditions for both days of our window, citing the potential for cumulus clouds and anvil clouds from thunderstorms."The 47m-long spacecraft is powered by ten kerosene/liquid oxygen Merlin-1C engines - nine to get it off the ground and the tenth to get it into the right, 250km-high, orbit.The company's first rocket, the Falcon 1, had three failed launches before finally making it into the sky. Failure today is not unlikely, says Musk, but could still lead to useful data."It would be a great day if we reach orbital velocity, but still a good day if the first stage functions correctly, even if the second stage malfunctions. It would be a bad day if something happens on the launch pad itself and we’re not able to gain any flight data," he says.If the launch is successful, the trip to orbit will last just ten minutes. The spaceship will then orbit for around a year before eventually burning up in the atmosphere.Falcon 9 has been designed to carry a six-tonne payload, but could be readily-convertible to carry passengers. SpaceX hopes for commissions from NASA - which helped fund the spaceship's development - as well as from satellite operators.So far, the cost has reached nearly $400 million.
See more info about the Falcon 9 here: http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.php

This is an important development, once private companies start to build space craft, that's the first step towards opening up space to the rest of us who are outside the military. I know it's early days, but it's a start. Now I wish they would hurry the hell up with that Cobra Mk3!

I would just like to go into space before I pass on and not have to pay hundreds or even millions of dollars to do so. So I really do hope this is successful and it spurs new competition in this area. Plus any government that has a space program shouldn't have to rely on other nations to put their astronauts into space. For the price they are charging the NASA they could almost fund all of SpaceX R&D