Thursday, December 25, 2008

SpaceX Wins Big NASA Contract

Internet Entrepreneur Elon Musk's start-up SpaceX beat out Boeing and Lockheed Martin to win a $3.1 billion contract to resupply the International Space Station.

The initial contract is $1.6 billion for 12 flights to resupply the space station, with a potential for $3.1 billion with follow-up missions. The first resupply mission is slated for late 2010.

Under NASA's new Commercial Resupply Services program, SpaceX will be paid for each mission. If I do my math correctly that equates to about $133 million a pop. NASA currently spends about $500 million to launch the space shuttle, so this is like switching to the dollar store for the NASA folks. Let's hope the SpaceX rockets are better quality than my $1.00 Swanson's Boneless Fried Chicken TV dinners.

Mr. Musk has already poured $100 million of his own money into the program, so this will likely be a much enjoyed Christmas for the Musk family. Or it could be a very stressful one in which Mr. Musk begins to realize that NASA is putting all their eggs in his somewhat untested SpaceX basket to save the International Space Station! SpaceX has so far attempted to launch three rockets and only one was successful. It will be very exciting to see if SpaceX can deliver.

Good luck and Godspeed, Mr. Musk!

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