Splashdown! Lockheed's Orion Capsule Arrives HomeINVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
By GILLIAN RICH, Posted 12:40 PM ET
A human mission to Mars is one step closer as Lockheed Martin's Orion capsule successfully landed on Earth Friday after a 4-1/2-hour test flight.
A Delta 4 Heavy rocket took off at 7:05 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The rocket was built by United Launch Alliance, a Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and Boeing (NYSE:BA) joint venture.
The unmanned prototype Orion capsule tested systems in orbit before landing at 11:33 a.m. in the Pacific Ocean.
Lockheed shares changed little on the stock market today. Boeing rose 0.8%.
NASA plans on launching another unmanned capsule in 2017 or 2018 with the Space Launch System, a mega rocket currently under development by Boeing.
The first manned mission is slated for 2021. The capsule still needs a service module and habitat module before it's ready for any trip to Mars.
Friday's launch was the first time in over 40 years that a human-grade spacecraft traveled out of low-Earth orbit. But space will get dotted with more commercial craft designed for low-Earth orbit.
SpaceX, started by Elon Musk of Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA), won a $2.6 billion contract from NASA earlier this year to build a craft that would ferry astronauts up to the International Space Station. Boeing received a similar $4.2 billion pact.
U.S. companies aren't alone in this new space race.
The U.K.'s Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines wants to bring tourists to space with his Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, which is slated for launch next year.
On Wednesday, European aerospace giant Airbus (OTCPK:EADSY) and engine maker Safran formed a joint venture, Airbus Safran Launchers, to build a newer, cheaper version of the Ariane satellite launcher. The company will start working on the Ariane 6 rocket in January.
But space travel obviously is fraught with risk.
In October, an unmanned supply rocket by Orbital Sciences (NYSE:ORB) exploded, and later that month Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo broke apart during a test flight, killing one of the pilots.
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