SpaceX: We’re No Threat to Constellation

An artist's conception of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Florida.

SpaceX hopes to launch first manned commercial rocket
Orlando Sentinel

Astronauts, NASA officials and some members of Congress question how a small company can manage to get crew safely to orbit when NASA is having so many technical and financial challenges with its own rockets. They also point out that SpaceX has yet to prove it can deliver on its NASA contract to take cargo to the station.

But by far their biggest concern is that SpaceX ships are rivals to Ares and Orion, a view SpaceX dismisses.

“People are very worried [our] efforts are a threat to Constellation rather than an enabler,” says Bowersox. “We don’t want to compete like that. We want to enable. We want to provide a cheap way to get to station so you can spend money to do the exciting exploration things. But they feel that threat.”

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