Space Frontier Foundation Expresses Condolences on Falcon 9 Loss, High Hopes for Spaceflight

Following today’s anomaly that caused SpaceX’s unmanned Falcon 9 ISS resupply mission to fail, the Space Frontier Foundation and the NewSpace community urges the SpaceX team and the public to continue to drive commercial spaceflight forward backed by the unyielding support of the community. SpaceX’s goal of landing and recovering the first stage of the Falcon 9 will be a historical achievement in spaceflight that will revolutionize access to space – an event the Space Frontier Foundation is highly confident will be realized.

“Today, our thoughts go out to the hard working team at SpaceX. It’s important to see this event as yet another learning experience for the commercial space industry that will only increase the probability of SpaceX’s success with the Falcon 9 in the future,” said Jeff Feige, Chairman of the Board of the Space Frontier Foundation. “Space is hard, incredibly hard, just as aviation and ocean voyages were in their infancies, but with the unwavering determination of companies like SpaceX and the NewSpace community, I have no doubt we will overcome the inevitable setbacks only to return stronger and even more determined.” 

SpaceX, a pioneer of NewSpace, has made seven trips to the ISS contracted the by NASA and is the first company to complete a return trip to the space station, a feat previously achieved by only government agencies. This is only the first failure of 19 Falcon 9 launches. 

Today’s event should inspire increased support from the NewSpace community and the public of which it affects both. A new space race is underway with many more countries in the mix than there were in the 1960’s. This new race is about fostering innovation in science and technology and SpaceX’s efforts are a key part of the global NewSpace movement.

Again, the Space Frontier Foundation’s thoughts and encouragements go out to the team at SpaceX. The Foundation looks forward to the next Falcon 9 launch.