Over the weekend, SpaceX rolled the Falcon 9 launch vehicle out to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX plans to conduct an engine test sometime this week, which should provide some dramatic rumbling and shaking around the cape. The Falcon 9 measures 154 feet tall and 12 feet wide, and for the upcoming test launch (date currently not set), the payload will be a dummy of the company's Dragon capsule being developed to carry equipment to the International Space Station for NASA.Meanwhile, the Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus-2 booster is testing rocket engines and making preparation for going vertical at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, VA. in the fall with the first launch planned in the spring of 2011.
There is a friendly commercial competition between SpaceX and Orbital as to which commercial space launch team will deliver the first cargo to the International Space Station successfully.
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