Wednesday, January 27, 2010

SpaceX Gets Satellite Contract

Hawthorne-based Space Exploration Technologies, the commercial rocket firm headed by Elon Musk, said late Wednesday that it has signed a deal with Israeli satellite firm Space Communications Ltd., to launch a communications satellite aboard its Falcon 9 rocket as early as December of 2012. SpaceX said the launch will insert the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Spacecom's satellites are used for direct broadcast satellite television, telecommunications, and other satellite services. SpaceX is venture backed by Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, as well as Musk's own personal fortune.

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