California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

California-based Space Exploration Technologies Inc. aka SpaceX, announced  the
development of a new rocket called the Falcon Heavy at a press conference yesterday
in Washington DC  the Falcon heavy is a 22 story sized rocket, second in size with
only the Apollo-era Saturn V being bigger in US built rockets.  The rocket is capable
of payloads of at least 117,000 pounds, more than twice the capacity of the space
shuttle, which is retiring this year.

The initial demonstration flight of a Falcon Heavy is scheduled for November or
December 2012 at Vandenberg Air Force Base. According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk a
launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is planned for late 2013 or 2014. The company
expects to eventually launch about 20 rockets a year, half Falcon Heavy rockets
and half smaller Falcon 9 rockets which are undergoing testing, he said. The Falcon
Heavy’s payload is more than a fully-loaded Boeing 737 jet, said Musk, who is also
the company’s chief rocket designer. The rocket will meet human flight standards
and may be used for missions to the moon or Mars, he said. “It opens up a range of
possibilities for government and commercial customers,” he said.

Space X has received $1.6 billion in NASA contract work to build a cargo transport
called Dragon and as also received $298 million in seed capital to help it build it
smaller Falcon 9 rocket but has also spent $800 million of its own money building
and testing rockets and space capsules in California and Texas. On December 8, 2010,
SpaceX became the first commercial company in history to recover a spacecraft from
Orbit.

To see a video on the Falcon Heavy rocket project go to the following website:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTwRxtmQ9IY

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.