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Fourth Time's the Charm

By drorzel on September 29, 2008.

Congratulations to SpaceX for successfully launching a payload into orbit after three failed attempts:

The two-stage Falcon 1 rocket built by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) lifted off at about 7:15 p.m. EDT (2315 GMT) from the U.S. Army's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Defense Test Site on the Kwajalein Atoll in the about 2,500 miles (4,023 km) southwest of Hawaii. The successful space shot came less than a month after an engine timing error during stage separation doomed SpaceX's third Falcon 1 test.

"As the saying goes, the fourth time's the charm," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told an elated group of 500 employees at his Hawthorne, Calif.-based headquarters. "This is one of the best days of my life."

I'm not a true believer in the magic of the market, so I don't see this as a transformative moment, but I've noted their failures, so I really ought to celebrate their success.

Tags
Space

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Didn't William Gibson predict corporations having their own nukes?
That probly qualifes for an igNobel peace prize.