14 DAY TRIAL // In the words of some space industry analysts, the successful launch of the Falcon 9 rocket may change everything for the United States. Currently the top power in space, the country could easily lose its leading role in the near future, if appropriate measures are not taken immediately. With the planned retirement of the space shuttles due for completion by the end of this year, the nation will for the first time ever be left without any direct access to orbit for its astronauts. Spacecraft such as the Falcon 9 have the ability to change that, but whether that will actually happen, and when, is still a matter of debate, Space reports.
A few months ago, when US President Barack Obama released his 2011 budget proposal, the document contained a number of important changes for NASA's future plans. It stated that the agency was to renounce its Bush-era Project Constellation, and to focus more on supporting private corporations, and on again becoming a leader in innovation. Constellation is arguably the most impressive and daring space-related endeavor ever to exist, experts say. It contains two new rockets, the ARES I and the ARES V, an astronaut capsule called the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, a lunar lander called Altair, and an Earth-Departure Stage (EDS). But all these components, except Orion, are now to be canceled.
There were naturally numerous critics to Obama's decision to halt the Project, which came after a six-month review by a panel headed by former Lockheed Martin CEO, Norman Augustine. Some called the group biased, given the connections many of its members had with the private space industry. As such, the critics said, it made very much sense to believe that these individuals would propose that the federally-funded project be halted, in favor of the private industry. In Congress, opposition came from representatives and senators from states that would be most affected by Constellation shutting down, as well as from congressmen who believe that this measure directly violates US national security.
With yesterday's launch of the Falcon 9 rocket, entirely developed at and by Hawthorne, California-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the private space industry is bound to get a boost. “I think this bodes very well for the Obama plan. It really helps vindicate the approach he's taking,” said soon after the rocket launch Elon Musk, who is the founder of SpaceX. He co-founded the online payment service PayPal, before finally deciding to get into the space business, back in 2002.
“Space X's accomplishment is an important milestone in the commercial transportation effort and puts the company a step closer to providing cargo services to the International Space Station. This launch of the Falcon 9 gives us even more confidence that a resupply vehicle will be available dafter the space shuttle fleet is retired,” said in a statement released after the Falcon 9 take-off Charles Bolden, the NASA Administrator.
But not everyone is ecstatic about the success and it implications. “Even this modest success is more than a year behind schedule, and the project deadlines of other private space companies continue to slip as well. This test does not change the fact that commercial space programs are not ready to close the gap in human spaceflight if the space shuttle is retired this year with no proven replacement capability and the Constellation program is simultaneously canceled as the President proposes,” Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) said in a statement.