SpaceX - on the cover of Discover magazine

Does any one know anything about this SpaceX stuff that's on the cover of Discover magazine. They are building a 2 engine 2 staage launch vehicle. According to the article, their test stand is in McGregor TX. The same town we've flown our rockets, and just around the corner from "W".
Makes me wish I were a .com gazillionare...

Space X was / is the next step. They annoned it after rutan won the X prize, now it is for the first one to ORBIT the earth and return.

SpaceX is Elon Musk's (PayPal founder) expendable launcher company. See http://www.spacex.com/ for info.
"America's Space Prize" http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/prize.html is the $50 million orbital follow on to the X-prize.
The terminology is confusing. Too few letters in the alphabet for all the cool things that are happening!     Will
Starlord wrote:
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and they are going to be soooooooooo sucessful without even trying to do something suborbital. they think that the infrastructure just lays out itself without any R&D.
sheesh.
Ten bucks says they never get off the ground

tater schuld wrote:
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How do you know they won't try and do something suborbital? The first few flights of SS1 weren't into space, they got there incrementally. If they're trying to do an orbital craft, I'm sure their first few test flights will be suborbital (or less -- not even into 'space') to simply try out various parts of the hardware. That's what we did with Mercury, that's what we did with the shuttle, that's what the SS1 guys did -- design the stuff, but give it some 'easy' hurdles first...
David Erbas-White

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The shuttle never made any "suborbital" flights. It did glide drop tests of a non space capable prototype, but never flew into space until STS-1.

I was, indeed, referring to the drop tests. The point being that you don't design a craft and then do your 'goal' as the first 'test'.
David Erbas-White
Bob Kaplow wrote:
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about a month after the X-prize was won I polled the list of x-prize entries to see what their status was. most(of the remaining existing) of them announced that they were going to abandon developing sub-orbital and try straight for orbital.
maybe they'll try sub-orbital testing, i really hope so, but I am betting that they are either gonna drop out or try to stick their eggs all in one basket.
bye the way, in oshkosh, rutan stated that HE did not announce the 2008 availability of space ship two, although he did say that before testing was complete, they would have flown a number over the current population of astronauts(but he didn't say over double the #)
me? I am betting that the flexing booms seen in the second x-prize flight become an issue, and that things get delayed till at least 2010.
of course, I am still betting on getting my wings from little joe 10, as I dont see myself putting out $200,000 for a passenger ticket.

In the Mojave Newspaper, it has been annoced that Rutan's company and the Airline outfit from England have signed the contract to "Design, Build, Test, and Operate" a Space craft able to attan Earth Orbit and carry more than 2 people on a flight. The same paper has a notice in it this week ( todays paper) that the US Feds have given their OK for the transfer of tech between the two companys.
Projected date of first offical flight 2012.

Bob,     Several times this year DARS has been treated to SpaceX static motor tests during our launches at McGregor. It is reasonably impressive from far away. It would be nice to be invited a little bit closer. :-)
I have heard that SpaceX is going to be using the big test stand started by Beal Aerospace (and then abandoned) for their big motor.
Bob Kaplow wrote:
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