Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Reuters Published Friday, May. 18, 2012 10:40AM EDT Last updated Saturday, May. 19, 2012 7:44AM EDT <\/p>\n
An Obama administration plan to cut the cost of spaceflight services faces a key test on Saturday when a privately owned rocket lifts off for a practice run to the International Space Station. <\/p>\n
If successful, Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, would become the first private company to reach the $100-billion outpost, which flies about 390 kilometres above Earth. <\/p>\n
It is, by all accounts, an important step, bordering on a giant leap, for commercial space, said Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former NASA astronaut and space station commander who now heads the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, a Washington-based industry association. <\/p>\n
SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule are scheduled for launch at 4:55 a.m. EDT on Saturday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. <\/p>\n
If everything goes as planned, it would reach the space station on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
Since the space shuttles were retired last year, NASA is dependent on partners Europe, Japan and especially Russia to fly to the station. <\/p>\n
Instead of building a shuttle replacement, the U.S. space agency is spending about $3-billion a year on a new rocket and capsule to send astronauts to the moon, asteroids and eventually to Mars. <\/p>\n
To reach the station, NASA is investing in five U.S firms SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp ORB-Nfor cargo transports; and SpaceX, Boeing BA-N, Sierra Nevada Corp, and Blue Origin, a startup owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, for passenger ships. <\/p>\n
All the companies are contributing their own funds as well, a break from traditional U.S. government procurement practices. Rather than having their costs reimbursed, NASAs commercial partners are paid when they achieve predetermined milestones. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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SpaceX rocket preps for first commercial flight to space station<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Continue reading