SpaceX has announced that it plans to launch its Falcon 1 as early as 2 hours from now -- 7 PM Eastern Time. You can follow along by watching the webcast on the company site, which will begin at 6:30 PM Eastern. If the rocket doesn't launch today, the company has the range booked for several more days to try again.
I am confident in SpaceX's ability to complete this mission. The company appears to be approaching this launch more professionally than the two past missions (and more expensively, but let's leave that aside for the moment). That said, I am nervous to see it launch, given the history of rocket flight.
The way that we progress in this world is by a number of us working hard on projects and risking embarrassment and failure. Sometimes the odds are long and the payoff unclear. No matter the outcome of this launch and even if a successful launch only marginally reduces the costs of getting to space, I feel like SpaceX has contributed a great deal by trying something new in a business that has seen so little innovation for the last few generations. I have been following the company's progress for over four years on this blog, and I feel some personal satisfaction to see everyone at SpaceX continue to try for the heavens.
So good luck to SpaceX and godspeed Falcon!
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