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[Satellite Today 08-05-08] Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) received a $20 million equity investment from Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based technology venture capital firm whose management team includes the co-founders of PayPal.
Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and financier, made his fortune when he and the co-founder sold PayPal to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Luke Nosek, a co-founder of PayPal and managing partner of the Founders Fund, will join the SpaceX board.
Also falling in the ranks of SpaceX supporters is SpaceDev, which expressed its continued support and commitment to SpaceX and the Falcon 1 in an Aug. 4 statement. The Falcon 1 Flight 3 vehicle that failed Sept. carried the SpaceDev Trailblazer satellite, which SpaceDev had delivered under contract to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office.
“The space business is one of great challenges, which are met by people taking great risks,” Mark Sirangelo, chairman and CEO of SpaceDev, said. “While the Falcon 1 Flight 3 launch was not a success, it does not diminish the hard work and efforts of the dedicated teams that, combined with the strong government support provided by the ORS office, enabled us to accomplish the unprecedented in-space history accomplishment of delivering a fully functional satellite within six months from ORS’ authorization to proceed. Our satellite systems represent an excellent value and balance risk, cost, schedule and performance, so we look forward to a long and successful relationship with the ORS office, the Department of Defense, and SpaceX.”
The U.S. Air Force has not yet made a decision about the future of the ORS effort, Lt. Col. Mark Brown, an Air Force spokesman, told Satellite Today.
NASA lost two satellites, NanoSail-D and PreSat, in the failure, and the agency “no active plans to repeat these missions,” spokeswoman Jennifer Morcone said in an e-mail. “If a future launch opportunity becomes available, either via SpaceX or another launch provider, we would be interested in trying again,” she said.
Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and financier, made his fortune when he and the co-founder sold PayPal to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Luke Nosek, a co-founder of PayPal and managing partner of the Founders Fund, will join the SpaceX board.
Also falling in the ranks of SpaceX supporters is SpaceDev, which expressed its continued support and commitment to SpaceX and the Falcon 1 in an Aug. 4 statement. The Falcon 1 Flight 3 vehicle that failed Sept. carried the SpaceDev Trailblazer satellite, which SpaceDev had delivered under contract to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office.
“The space business is one of great challenges, which are met by people taking great risks,” Mark Sirangelo, chairman and CEO of SpaceDev, said. “While the Falcon 1 Flight 3 launch was not a success, it does not diminish the hard work and efforts of the dedicated teams that, combined with the strong government support provided by the ORS office, enabled us to accomplish the unprecedented in-space history accomplishment of delivering a fully functional satellite within six months from ORS’ authorization to proceed. Our satellite systems represent an excellent value and balance risk, cost, schedule and performance, so we look forward to a long and successful relationship with the ORS office, the Department of Defense, and SpaceX.”
The U.S. Air Force has not yet made a decision about the future of the ORS effort, Lt. Col. Mark Brown, an Air Force spokesman, told Satellite Today.
NASA lost two satellites, NanoSail-D and PreSat, in the failure, and the agency “no active plans to repeat these missions,” spokeswoman Jennifer Morcone said in an e-mail. “If a future launch opportunity becomes available, either via SpaceX or another launch provider, we would be interested in trying again,” she said.
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