Privately built rocket completes test firing
A privately built rocket that's intended to dramatically reduce the cost of space transport has completed a test firing.
The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, says that its Falcon 1 rocket completed a successful engine test in California on May 27. SpaceX was founded three years ago by Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal.
(Here's a photo gallery with images of what the Falcon 1 looks like.)
SpaceX has conducted other test firings of the Falcon 1 while it was in Texas, but counts last week's success as crucial because the rocket was hooked up to a final set of ground support gear at Vandenberg Air Force Base. A launch is expected from Vandenberg this summer.
The Falcon 1 is noteworthy because--if its maiden flight is successful--it's expected to lift payloads into orbit at around one-quarter the cost of rivals such as Orbital Sciences' Pegasus rocket. Another, larger SpaceX rocket called the Falcon V is scheduled to launch next year.
Declan McCullagh, CNET News' chief political correspondent, chronicles the intersection of politics and technology. He has covered politics, technology, and Washington, D.C., for more than a decade, which has turned him into an iconoclast and a skeptic of anyone who says, "We oughta have a new federal law against this." E-mail Declan. 
