The Government has offered Australia's three mobile operators, and vividwireless, renewal of their existing spectrum allocated on 15 year licences in the late 90s and early 2000s at set prices, while the Government expects to rake in $3 billion.
Although the rocket entered space, a problem with the second stage caused the craft to roll and the engine shut down at an altitude of 300 kilometres (187 miles) but before Falcon 1 reached orbit.
An attempt earlier today was aborted at the last moment due to slightly low pressure in the engine chamber.
The company's plan is that Falcon will be a relatively low-cost vehicle for getting payloads into orbit, due in part to a reusable first stage.
SpaceX has already committed to a number of commercial and government missions using Falcon 1 and the larger Falcon 2 rocket. The next launch is expected to be the first operational flight: "I really doubt that there's any need for a third test flight," said SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
That mission is scheduled for the third quarter, and slated to carry a military communications satellite along with the cremated remains of a number of people including Gordon Cooper (one of America's original astronauts from the Mercury program) and James Doohan (famous for the role of 'Scotty' in Star Trek).
Musk was the co-founder of PayPal, which is now owned by eBay.
David Bass
| ComOps, a leading Australian provider of business software products and services, has won a competitive tender to deploy its Salvus safety, r…
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