Popular Science Names Falcon 9 Best of What's New in 2010
Praises Innovation of “The First Astronaut-Worthy Private Rocket In Orbit”
HAWTHORNE, CA – SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has won a 2010 Popular Science Best of What's New award in Aviation & Space.
“At SpaceX, we have ambitious goals for the future of human spaceflight. We are working every day to bring about significant breakthroughs that will improve the reliability and cost of space transportation,” said Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and CTO. “It is a tremendous honor for the Falcon 9 to be recognized by the world’s largest science and technology magazine as one of the best innovations of 2010.”
Popular Science calls Falcon 9 “The First Astronaut-Worthy Private Rocket In Orbit” and goes on to explain, “When NASA retires the space shuttle next year, the only American-owned option the U.S. government will have for getting cargo to the International Space Station is to ride with a private spaceflight company. Such an arrangement became viable in June, when SpaceX’s Falcon 9—a 180-foot, kerosene-and-liquid-oxygen-fueled rocket capable of delivering six metric tons of cargo or seven astronauts to orbit—made its maiden voyage to space.”
Why is SpaceX so proud? As Popular Science says, “SpaceX engineers designed nearly every piece of the rocket from scratch.”
“For 23 years, Popular Science has honored the innovations that surprise and amaze us − those that make a positive impact on our world today and challenge our views of what’s possible in the future,” said Mark Jannot, Editor-in-Chief of Popular Science. “The Best of What’s New Award is the magazine’s top honor, and the 100 winners − chosen from among thousands of entrants − represent the highest level of achievement in their fields.”
SpaceX is featured in this December’s special issue, now on newsstands and online at http://www.popsci.com/bown/2010/product/spacex-falcon-9.
Watch a video of the Falcon 9’s June 4th launch: http://www.youtube.com/user/spacexchannel#p/c/F0D3A9748DC5E42D/1/kari1ZInxjc
About SpaceX
SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles and spacecraft that will increase reliability and performance of space transportation, while ultimately reducing costs by a factor of ten. With the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets, SpaceX has a diverse manifest of launches to deliver commercial satellites to orbit. After the Space Shuttle retires, the Falcon 9 and SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will start carrying cargo, including live plants and animals, to and from the International Space Station for NASA. Falcon 9 and Dragon were developed to one day carry astronauts.
Founded in 2002, SpaceX is a private company owned by management and employees, with minority investments from Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Valor Equity Partners. The company has over 1,100 employees in California, Texas and Florida. For more information, and to watch the video of the first Falcon 9 launch, visit the SpaceX website at SpaceX.com.
About Popular Science
Founded in 1872, Popular Science (www.popsci.com) is the world's largest science and technology magazine, with a circulation of 1.3 million and 7.1 million readers. Each month, Popular Science delivers "The Future Now," reporting on the intersection of science and everyday life with an eye toward what's new and why it matters. Popular Science is published by the Bonnier Corporation (www.bonniercorp.com), one of the largest consumer publishing groups in America and the leading media company serving passionate, highly engaged audiences through more than 40 special-interest magazines and related multimedia projects and events.
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