After the mysterious explosion of its Falcon 9 rocket on the launch which also managed to damage a Facebook communications satellite, SpaceX was in a crisis. Many of its customers have expressed concerns about the company, while its competitors sought to exploit SpaceX’s misfortune to their advantage. However, it seems that Elon Musk’s company is still in the game as it has recently managed to win a new NASA contract.
The contract involves the launch of a NASA satellite meant to survey the planet’s surface water as well as taking high-resolution measurements of the oceans. The launch is scheduled for April 2012 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The satellite will be deployed into orbit using the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The overall cost of the NASA’s latest endeavor known as the Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission will be around $112 million. This includes the spacecraft processing, the launch service as well as various other types of support besides the services offered by SpaceX.
At this point, there are no details regarding the specific amount SpaceX was awarded for the contract. NASA went on record on to state that this is competition and procurement sensitive information, and as such could not be publicly disclosed.
This newest mission is the latest contract awarded to SpaceX by NASA after in 2014 it awarded a $3.1 billion contract with the purpose of developing a crew capsule which will be used to transport astronauts back and forth between Earth and the International Space Station.
Since the company’s accident back in September, SpaceX was affected by a decrease in their customers’ confidence. The newly awarded NASA contract is sure to restore some faith in the company’s capacity to pull through the situation and address the problems it faced. SpaceX’s President, Gwynne Shotwell, expressed that the company is excited to deliver the critical science payload into orbit while also appreciating the ongoing partnership with NASA and the confidence they have put in SpaceX as a launch provider.
Although lose a few of its customers after the accident, mainly due to the urgency of various projects which the company could not deliver on, Elon Musk stated that they could resume launches as soon as December.
Image source: Wikimedia
Latest posts by Nancy Young (see all)
- Missouri Man Robbed by Date and Accomplice in Park - June 22, 2018
- Bose Poised to Launch Sleepbuds, In-Ear Headphones That Help You Sleep - June 21, 2018
- Russia Is Developing a Space Debris Laser to Keep Space Clean - June 15, 2018