Crowd cheers private spaceport's first launch (AP/CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

ATLANTIC, Virginia (AP) -- Spectators cheered as a rocket carrying two experimental satellites blasted off Saturday in the first launch from the mid-Atlantic region's commercial spaceport, creating a blazing streak across the sky just before sunrise.

The 69-foot Minotaur I rocket soared from the launch pad at 7 a.m., after teams spent the week resolving a software problem in one of the satellites that cause officials to scrubbed a liftoff planned for Monday.

"We can now confirm that both satellites are alive and kicking" in orbit, said Air Force Col. Samuel McCraw, the mission director. "It's still too early to know how they're doing, but both have woken up and started talking."

The rocket soared over the Atlantic Ocean against a pink-and-orange-streaked morning sky, drawing cheers from about 80 invited guests watching from a viewing site about a mile and a half from the commercial launch pad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

The crowd cheered again seconds later when the first stage separated from the rest of the rocket.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/12/16/rocket.launch.ap/index.html

[Howardx]

1. 2 things bother me

why are we paying this "private" company to launch military satellites? and just how "private" is this whole deal considering this "Air Force Col. Samuel McCraw, the mission director"

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Gradual outsourcing, then use it as an excuse to gut NASA ? I'm guessing.

But that seems to be the usual pattern.

[Vidar]

3. Sounds about right, In the Handbook under "How to avoid accountability

& oversight.

[index555]

4. And your point is?

The business model for one private rocket manufacturer is to produce very cheap rockets to deliver "non-critical" payloads to orbit.
"non-critical" meaning anything that can be easily replaced, like foodstuffs, small commercial or military satellites , etc.
they plan to make the rockets cheap by sacrificing reliability , only %90 of the rockets are expected to make it.
needless to say they will only be launching over water. the price tag is expected to be about %10-%20 of a critical,"high reliability" launch.

As far as "avoiding accountability and oversight" are concerned , what makes more sense financially ?
using a private $ 5 million rocket? or going to NASA and spending $50 million? (I don't have the actual numbers on hand) . NASA doesn't have anything really suitable for small payloads.

your argument makes no sense, unless you actually believe that ONLY governments should be allowed in space.