SpaceX will be allowed to operate at Cape Canaveral. This will move the launch of SpaceX's Falcon rockets from the Marshall Islands to Florida. SpaceX has been largely funded by DARPA to date. Experts claim that SpaceX will now be in direct competition with Orbital Science, who run the Minotaur rocket. The US Air Force green lighted the 5 year license agreement. It pays to do good work with DARPA, I suppose.

The article does not state if the move to cape Canaveral affected this competition. The article also does not mention how Cape Canaveral will affect the costs of running the Falcon rockets.

The Falcon 1 rocket, from SpaceX was successfully launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. However, the craft was not able to reach it's intended orbit before telemetry was lost and the nose cone was jettisoned. This is the second test launch for the DARPA financed Falcon 1, and the second time the craft has failed to meet expectations. Despite this, Elon Musk - co-founder of PayPal and CEO of SpaceX, believes that the launch was a success. At least all of the hardware wasn't lost in a launch pad fireball, I suppose.

Transformational Space Corp and PlanetSpace received a promise for continued consultations, advise, and feedback from NASA regarding their development of spacecraft capable of delivering cargo and crew to the International Space Station. The promise stems for the COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) competition previously sponsored by NASA. SpaceX and Rocketplane Kistler were awarded $500 million from that competition in order to pursue their own designs for spacecraft. The COTS competition will be re-opened in 2010, which may give Transformational Space Corp (t/Space) and PlanetSpace a chance to get contracts for re-supplying the space station. It is estimated that those contracts will be lucrative to the tune of several billion dollars.

SpaceX will try to re-test their Falcon 1 rocket. They will be launching their rocket from the scenic Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The test launch is being paid for by DARPA.

It was a good year for the Earth's space programs. So good, that I jumped on the bandwagon. This article contains a lot of great information about the highlights of space exploration in 2006.

Here are a few of the big ones.
• Aceize is founded, 150 year business plan set in motion.
• Bigelow Aerospace launches their first inflatable module onboard a Russian SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missle
• Anousheh Ansari travels to space. The deal was brokers by Virginia Based 'Space Adventures'
• Several launch services promote international cooperation including; International Launch Services (a U.S.-Russian venture), and Europe’s Arianespace and United Launch Alliance.