2/28/12

Update on Happenings in the Private Space Industry

SpaceX:

The famous SpaceX is gearing up to launch their new Dragon capsule up to the International Space Station. The flight was originally planned for December of last year. One thing led to another, and they are now planning to launch this spring. Yesterday (2/27) the capsule was integrated with a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral.



XCOR Aerospace:

The Lynx Mark I has some new partners in science! EMXYS of Spain, Texas A&M's Space Engineering Research Center, and the Planetary Science Institute have joined XCOR's payload processing sales channel for the Lynx suborbital vehicle. (press release). XCOR also picked up $5M of investment capital from individual investors, such as Esther Dyson, Pete Ricketts (co-owner of the Chicago Cubs) and several top Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and former venture capitalists. (another press release). This will help accelerate the date of the first flight of the Lynx.

(XCOR offered me an internship for next summer/fall. I have yet to hear the final details, but I am very, very intrigued.)

Armadillo Aerospace:
WATCH THIS VIDEO!!
If you don't want to watch the whole thing, then at least watch the amazing footage at apogee (starting ~2:50), and the ending.

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