SpaceX will send the most valuable NASA cargo into space

Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral (SpaceX)

Moreover, they are valuable not only in terms of their value, but also in terms of the importance of cargo for science. Now NASA has granted the company Ilona Mask the right to work with the most important equipment. The program will start in July, when SpaceX will send a French-American oceanographic satellite into space.

Launch Services Program NASA has a multi-year contract with SpaceX. Previously, Falcon 9 was held in the documents of the agency, as a launch vehicle for scientific missions of "medium risk". This includes sending orbiting satellites and some interplanetary stations. Now Falcon 9 has received Category 2, according to the agency’s classification.

This is not the final category, there is also Category 3, this category gives the right to transport equipment worth many billions of US dollars. Atlas 5, Delta 2 and Pegasus XL are now in this category.
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On July 22 of this year, the launch of the Jason 3 satellite is scheduled, the contract for its shipment was signed in 2012. The contract value is $ 82 million. The satellite will monitor the weather conditions on the planet from an orbit at an altitude of 1,300 km. The cost of the satellite is $ 358 million.



The next satellite will be TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), which will be launched in August 2017. This satellite will search for exoplanets from various star systems.

Earlier, SpaceX successfully completed 6 cargo delivery missions to the ISS. Now, after completing the NASA certification, the company has received permission to work with the agency’s scientific missions. Now there is a certification process from the US Air Force. If SpaceX receives the appropriate certification, the company will be able to deliver orbit to military satellites. The fact whether SpaceX will work with the US Air Force or not will be known in June.