SpaceX, NASA Ink New $112 Million Contract, Plans To Expand In Brevard County Pending Approval
By Matthew Richardson, Orlando Business Journal // November 29, 2016
Port Canaveral plans to vote on facility lease agreement in December
ABOVE VIDEO: On May 25, 2012 SpaceX made history when the Dragon spacecraft became the first privately developed vehicle in history to successfully attach to the International Space Station.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – SpaceX has landed a major deal with NASA, just weeks after the sudden Sept. 1 launchpad explosion of one of its rockets and the Facebook satellite it was supposed to launch into orbit.
Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX was awarded a $112 million contract from NASA on Nov. 22 to launch a satellite that will monitor the Earth’s bodies of water.
The mission, called Surface Water and Ocean Topography, is targeted for April 2021. And while the launch will take place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, winning the contract may open doors for future launches for SpaceX through NASA that will take place in Cape Canaveral — where the company conducts most of its launches.
NASA’s launch service program at Kennedy Space Center, based in Brevard County, will manage the SpaceX launch service.
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