SpaceX rocket fails first flight

Posted on: Mar. 25th, 2006 || Source: news.bbc.co.uk | E-mail Article | Print Article

The new Falcon 1 rocket has been lost on its maiden flight.

The US vehicle, developed by the Space Exploration Technologies Corp, was destroyed soon after take-off from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The vision of Elon Musk, co-founder of the electronic payment system PayPal, the Falcon was designed to cut the cost of current satellite launches.

An onboard camera appeared to show the rocket rolling out of control shortly before the video signal was lost.

SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp) spokeswoman Gwynn Shotwell told reporters on a conference call that there was about a minute of powered flight.

"We do know that the vehicle did not succeed after that," she said. "Clearly this is a setback but we're in this for the long haul."

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