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The 21m-long vehicle lifted off at 1810 California time (0110 GMT) and rose to an altitude of 200 miles (320km). Mr Musk, who co-founded the internet financial system PayPal, wants to lower the cost of access to space.
The flight did not achieve all its goals, but the businessman said it demonstrated the vision of his Space Exploration Technologies Corporation.
The mission was the second attempt to loft the rocket; the first ended when a fire fed by a fuel leak shut down the main-stage engine just 29 seconds after lift-off. On the latest flight, the second stage did not achieve its full orbital speed, but Mr Musk said this problem could be fixed once flight engineers checked the data.
The Falcon-1 is the first in a line of vehicles the SpaceX company hopes will shake up rocket services. It is a two-stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene. The first stage is designed to parachute into the ocean to be recovered and used again. With the relatively low price of about $7m (£4m) per flight, the Falcon-1 is making a serious attempt to undercut other players in what is an overcrowded launcher market.
Read the whole story here.
The flight did not achieve all its goals, but the businessman said it demonstrated the vision of his Space Exploration Technologies Corporation.
The mission was the second attempt to loft the rocket; the first ended when a fire fed by a fuel leak shut down the main-stage engine just 29 seconds after lift-off. On the latest flight, the second stage did not achieve its full orbital speed, but Mr Musk said this problem could be fixed once flight engineers checked the data.
The Falcon-1 is the first in a line of vehicles the SpaceX company hopes will shake up rocket services. It is a two-stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene. The first stage is designed to parachute into the ocean to be recovered and used again. With the relatively low price of about $7m (£4m) per flight, the Falcon-1 is making a serious attempt to undercut other players in what is an overcrowded launcher market.
Read the whole story here.
