Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nMs. Shotwell added SpaceX currently has 42 commercial launches manifested for a combined total of $4.2 billion in revenue. Each launch will cost around $100 million. Ms. Shotwell noted that SpaceX will ramp up its launch rate to two per month.
\u201cWe did dominate in commercial launch \u2013 the U.S. did- and we\u2019ve lost it. So, this is really important for American jobs.\u201d
An agreement to establish a SpaceX launch site in Brownsville, Texas is currently pending environmental impact analyses. Ms. Shotwell said that SpaceX will need \u201clots of launch sites.\u201d
Innovation:
Ms. Shotwell also noted SpaceX\u2019s success hinges on the ability to operate and produce while always innovating.
\u201cSpaceX will never be a company that is just operation and production focused. We will always have a team of R&D engineers and technicians to ensure that we are constantly innovating.\u201d
![\"Z76\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Z76.jpg\")
One element of SpaceX\u2019s innovation strategy is the development of reusable Falcon 9 rockets. Currently undergoing testing, SpaceX\u2019s reusable technology will allow Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon spacecraft to fly repeatedly.<\/p>\n
In a test as part of the April 18 launch of SpaceX\u2019s Commercial Resupply Services-3 (CRS-3) mission to the ISS, a Falcon 9 first stage executed a soft splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.
Incremental tests of the first Falcon 9 Reusable Development Vehicle (F9R Dev1) at SpaceX\u2019s McGregor, Texas facility have flown as high as 1 km and consistently concluded with the successful landing of the vehicle.<\/p>\n
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According to Ms. Shotwell, F9R Dev1 tests eventually will be carried out in New Mexico due to an \u201caltitude limitation\u201d at the McGregor facility.
The Falcon Heavy, which Ms. Shotwell said will initially fly in the first half of 2015, will consist of three Falcon 9 first stages strapped together and topped with an upper stage and payload.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/A101.jpg\")
Set to be launched from Kennedy Space Center\u2019s pad 39A as well as from Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Falcon Heavy will fly more payload to orbit than any rocket since the Saturn V, Ms. Shotwell noted \u2013 adding the first Falcon Heavy\u2019s stages and engines are under construction at SpaceX\u2019s Hawthorne, California headquarters.
While all SpaceX rockets flown thus far have been powered by SpaceX\u2019s liquid oxygen (LOX) and Rocket Propellant-1 (RP-1)-fueled Merlin engines, the company is developing the Raptor engine, a methane and liquid oxygen-fueled engine designed to provide highly efficient thrust for SpaceX\u2019s eventual family of super-heavy lift vehicles.
During a question and answer session following her presentation, Ms. Shotwell said that some components of the Raptor may be of interest in the development of a replacement or successor to the RD-180.<\/p>\n
An independent review panel commissioned by officials from across the U.S. government recently recommended the development of a new hydrocarbon-fueled engine in response to the uncertainty of the U.S.\u2019 supply of RD-180s.<\/p>\n
(Images via SpaceX, Sehrish Irum and NPO Energomash).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell recently outlined how SpaceX\u2019s justifications for suing the United States Air Force (USAF) represent and advance SpaceX\u2019s broader ambitions. Ms. Shotwell\u2019s remarks, which were at a presentation at the Atlantic Council international affairs think tank in Washington, D.C., also outlined SpaceX\u2019s current progress in securing and innovating in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9067,1395,479,316,4277],"class_list":["post-39569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-altas-v","tag-dragon","tag-falcon-9","tag-spacex","tag-usaf"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Z3\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Z32.jpg\")
SpaceX is working to certify their Falcon 9 rocket for USAF launches.<\/p>\n![\"Z5\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z510.jpg\")
Russia\u2019s Soyuz spacecraft is currently the only mode of US astronaut transportation to the International Space Station (ISS). Ms. Shotwell said SpaceX hopes its recently unveiled Dragon V2 spacecraft will curb NASA\u2019s reliance on Soyuz for transport to ISS.<\/p>\n![\"Z87\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Z87.jpg\")
On April 30, a U.S. Court of Federal Appeals injunction temporarily barred ULA from purchasing RD-180s. The injunction, which was lifted on May 8, was prompted by a complaint by SpaceX alleging that the purchase of RD-180s violates U.S. sanctions on Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia\u2019s defense and space industries.<\/p>\n