SpaceX sets sights on Mars mission by 2018 | The Compost Bin

SpaceX sets sights on Mars mission by 2018

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28 Apr ’16 - 9:50 am

Elon will probably get there before Mars one

MELBOURNE, Fla. — SpaceX on Wednesday said it could launch an unmanned mission to Mars as soon as 2018, furthering development of systems that could help colonize the Red Planet.

Concept images released by the company showed a Falcon Heavy rocket launching a Dragon capsule from what appears to be Kennedy Space Center's pad 39A.

The long-awaited Falcon Heavy, with a first stage consisting of three Falcon core stages firing 27 engines, could make its debut late this year with a launch from KSC. The Dragon already flies cargo to the International Space Station and is being upgraded to fly astronauts there as soon as next year.

http://www.usatoday....../83625940/

He also just picked up an 83 million dollar military cotract

Elon Musk's SpaceX has been awarded an $82.7 million contract to send a U.S. Air Force satellite into space, shattering Boeing-Lockheed's long-held monopoly over military launches.

The contract to launch the Air Force's next generation GPS satellite in 2018 opens a lucrative new revenue stream for SpaceX, which plans to keep costs low by re-using its first-stage rockets.

A successful launch would also prove that the military has more than one option for sensitive launches.

http://money.cnn.com.....elon-musk/

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30 Apr ’16 - 10:54 am

Crazy how much cheaper space x is doing it

The U.S. Air Force will save 40 percent by buying a GPS satellite launch from Elon Musk’s SpaceX compared with what United Launch Alliance has been charging, the head of the Space and Missile Systems Center said on Thursday.

The Air Force on Wednesday awarded SpaceX an $83 million contract to launch the satellite, breaking the monopoly that ULA partners Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co had held on military space launches for more than a decade.

The disclosure of the cost gap between SpaceX and ULA highlights the challenge the latter will face in competing for future launch business.

"We believe ... the awarded price for this mission is about 40 percent cheaper than (the) government estimate for previous missions,” Lieutenant General Samuel Greaves, head of the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, told reporters.

ULA is responding to competition from SpaceX and other startups by slashing costs and overhauling its lineup of rockets. The venture is upgrading its workhorse Atlas 5 rocket, cutting launch prices to less than $100 million per flight, and dropping its costly Delta 4 rocket line, ULA executives have said.

more http://www.reuters.c.....SKCN0XP2T2