Falcon 9 v1.1 Appears on Fast Track To Qualify for Air Force Missions

摘要

With its successful launch of the Thaicom 6 commercial telecommunications satellite Jan. 6, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) appears to have met the U.S. Air Force's requirements to bid for national security launches and challenge the market incumbent, United Launch Alliance (ULA) of Denver. While Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX has not received formal certification to launch operational national security satellites aboard its Falcon 9 vl.l rocket, Gen. William Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command, told SpaceNews Jan. 7 he has not seen anything from the vehicle's three flights to date to prevent that from happening. SpaceX spokeswoman Emily Shanklin said via email that the company believes the Falcon 9 vl.l has now met the three-flight certification requirement for the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program.