Space on the cheap

NASA: Are you taking notes?

Thunder, of Claire Wolfe's blog, tells us of the newest privately-financed space venture:

We all remember SpaceShipOne's historic flight, becoming the first private manned flight into space and the first to be ready to launch again just a week or so later. Well, there's a new kid in town......

The World's Lowest Cost Rocket to Orbit will be launched December 19th at 11AM PST.

**snip**

* Most importantly, Falcon 1, priced at $6.7 million, will provide the lowest cost per flight to orbit of any launch vehicle in the world, despite receiving a design reliability rating equivalent to that of the best launch vehicles currently flying in the United States.

We didn't need the confirmation that a private venture could do it better and cheaper than a government. We already new that. But it sure is nice to see it proven publicly every once in a while.

Story on Spaceref.com