We have also changed our pricing policy to reflect the all inclusive price of launch to make things really clear. Some people were under the impression that range and 3rd party insurance costs were millions of dollars. Everything is now included, unless you have a really complex spacecraft or require an outside mission assurance process, and it is the same price we've had since 2002 - $5.9M for the vehicle plus $0.8M for the launch range, 3rd party insurance and payload integration.
Where does one go to see a launch of a SpaceX rocket? This was one of my first questions, and it appears that it may be a few years before I get to see a launch. The first launch was scheduled for Vandenberg AFB, after the launch of a Government Titan IV rocket. This launch was delayed, so the first Falcon I will launch from a beautiful Atoll that is part of the Marshall Islands.
The Island of Dr. YesIn June, after Titan IV's launch from Vandenberg was delayed yet again to sometime in late 2005, we decided to switch the maiden launch of Falcon 1 to an island in the Kwajalein Atoll that we are leasing from the US Army. For those unaware, SpaceX has a launch restriction specifying that we cannot fly from our Vandenberg Air Force Base launch site until the multi-billion dollar Titan IV mission departs. In theory, there is a tiny chance that our rocket could go off course and damage the T-IV, which is sitting on its pad, so our ability to launch from there has been put on pause.
The Kwajalein Atoll is essentially a huge reef that occasionally extends above water, forming a chain of islands. The biggest island is also called Kwajalein and contains almost all of the US personnel in the area. Politically, the Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, but is leased by the US Army for use as a missile test range and communications & tracking facility. As a result of hundreds of millions of dollars of investment by the Defense Department over the past several decades, Kwajalein is home to some of the world's most powerful radar tracking and space communications systems.
Southern part of the Kwajalein Atoll with the main island of Kwajalein in the foreground
Our island in the Atoll is named Omelek and it is about halfway up the island chain on the eastern side. The Atoll's location is advantageous for a number of reasons. Most significant is its location at 9 deg. N latitude, placing it much closer to the equator than the 28 deg. N latitude of Cape Canaveral, where our other eastward trajectory launch pad is located. That allows us to take more advantage of the Earth's rotation and deliver increased payload to orbit. It also means that a much smaller plane change maneuver (to 0 deg.) is needed for geosynchronous satellites.
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