http://www.darpa.mil/tto/programs/Falcon.htm http://www.spacex.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_1_Flight_4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-stage-to-orbit The maiden flight of the Falcon 1 was launched on Saturday, 24 March 2006 . It ended in failure about a minute into the flight due to a fuel line leak and subsequent fire. The launch took place from the SpaceX launch site on Omelek Island in the Marshall Islands. The launch was postponed several times due to various technical issues with the new vehicle. Scheduling conflicts with a Titan IV launch at Vandenberg AFB also caused delays and resulted in the launch moving to the Reagan Test Site in the Kwajalein Atoll. The first launch attempt on 19 December 2005 was scrubbed when a faulty valve caused a vacuum in the first stage fuel tank which sucked inward and caused structural damage. After replacing the first stage, Falcon 1 launched Saturday, 25 March 2006 ...The DARPA payload was the United States Air Force Academy’s FalconSAT–2, which would have measured space plasma phenomena............ It is a two-stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene. The first stage is designed to parachute into the ocean to be recovered and used again.