March 21 News Items

SpaceX Rocket Launches, But Loses Contact (Source: DailyBreeze.com)
Officials with the El Segundo-based SpaceX say that their Tuesday Falcon 1 launch was a success despite having the rocket lose contact. The rocket began to oscillate and ceased sending signals to Earth about five minutes after liftoff from the Omelek Island launch pad on the Kwajalein Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The loss of signal contact came during the rocket's second stage. Elon Musk, founder of the company that's also known as SpaceX, said the launch demonstrated the rocket's ability to reach space and "retired probably about 90 percent of the risk associated with the rocket."

NASA Proposes Cuts for Advanced Concepts Institute (Source: NASA Watch)
NASA Watch reports that the agency may cancel funding for NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC). "This is one of the few places at NASA that embodies far-thinking, new stuff," NASA Watch's editor told New Scientist. "When they're cutting stuff like this, they're desperate, or stupid, or both."

Florida Space Industry Leaders Solicit Support in Tallahassee (Source: ERAU)
About 40 space enterprise officials from government and industry visited Tallahassee on Wednesday to meet with legislators and discuss the importance of space-related investments and other support from the state government. Based on bills and initiatives currently under consideration by the Legislature, tens or hundreds of millions of dollars could be devoted in next year's state budget for space industry expansion and diversification.