The first attempt by privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, also known as SpaceX, to launch a low-cost rocket ended quickly. Saturday's flight of the 70-foot, two-stage Falcon 1 rocket from a U.S. base on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean's Marshall Islands lasted only about a minute after its engines were shut down 29 seconds into the flight.
PayPal co-founder and billionaire Elon Musk, who helped develop and finance the rocket, said in a statement on the SpaceX site that "all vehicle systems, including the main engine, thrust vector control, structures, avionics, software, guidance algorithm, etc. were picture perfect."
The Falcon 1 lifted off the ground, but note the flames at bottom of the rocket.
Photo by Thom Rogers/SpaceX
