Wowza Media Server 2 Plays Important Role in First-Ever Commercial Spacecraft Launch and Recovery
EVERGREEN, CO., January 10, 2011—Wowza Media Systems® today announced that its Wowza Media Server 2 software was a key component in supporting the first-ever commercial company to launch and recover a spacecraft from orbit successfully. On Dec. 8, 2010, American space exploration company SpaceX launched its Dragon spacecraft into the Earth's orbit from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The spacecraft twice orbited the Earth and landed in the Pacific Ocean only a few hours later. Thousands watched the historic event unfold on SpaceX's live webcast.
Watch the highlights of the first flight of the Dragon spacecraft
Relying on the Wowza multiplatform streaming solution, SpaceX captured the event on HD-resolution IP cameras placed around the launch pad and pushed live streams to a global Web audience via Akamai streaming services. The flexible Wowza software made it easy for SpaceX engineers to view operations from every angle.
“At SpaceX, we are working every day to bring about significant breakthroughs that will improve the reliability and cost of space transportation,” said Branden Spikes, SpaceX chief information officer. “It's an ambitious task, and we need support we can count on. Wowza Media Server 2 improved our closed-circuit monitoring system for the local and remote operations teams, a critical component of our successful mission, by making it more robust and flexible. This allowed us to more effectively share Dragon's first flight with the thousands of viewers around the world. Wowza provided us with the most advanced tools for streaming, a flexible and extensible architecture, excellent technical support, and impressive reliability.”
The Dragon launch and recovery marks the start of a new era in which private companies will provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective space transport. After the NASA space shuttle retires, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft will start carrying cargo, including plants and animals, to and from the International Space Station for NASA.
“At Wowza, we are continually developing and enhancing our unified media server software to make it more useful in a wider variety of applications,” said Alex Dobrushin, chief marketing officer, Wowza Media Systems. “In step with us are the innovative companies continually finding new ways to take advantage of our product. SpaceX is a great example. For Wowza, it's exciting and gratifying to be part of the advanced technology mix supporting the next generation of space travel.”
Award-winning Wowza Media Server 2 is a high-performance video engine that unifies delivery of live and on-demand H.264 video or AAC/MP3 audio streams to multiple clients and devices, extending the content’s reach to any platform and any screen. Wowza Media Server 2 offers broad support for a wide variety of media platforms, including Adobe® Flash®, Microsoft® Silverlight®, Apple® iOS, Android™, and Blackberry®, as well as IPTV and game consoles.
About SpaceX
SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles and spacecrafts that will increase reliability and performance of space transportation while ultimately reducing costs by a factor of 10. With the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets, SpaceX has a diverse manifest of launches to deliver commercial satellites to orbit. After the Space Shuttle retires, the Falcon 9 and SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will start carrying cargo, including live plants and animals, to and from the International Space Station for NASA. Falcon 9 and Dragon were developed to one day carry astronauts. Founded in 2002, SpaceX is a private company owned by management and employees, with minority investments from Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Valor Equity Partners. The company has more than 1,200 employees in California, Texas, and Florida. For more information, and to watch the video of the first Dragon launch, visit the SpaceX website at SpaceX.com.
About Wowza Media Systems
Wowza Media Systems is the media server software company that provides an industrial strength infrastructure for live video, video-on-demand, live recording and video chat. Wowza has a singular focus on delivering high performance media server software to service providers, media properties, enterprises, and other organizations serious about delivering video to any digital screen — computer, mobile phone, home TV. Wowza's media server software has been deployed by more than 60,000 global licensees in entertainment, social media, advertising, enterprise, education, government, and Internet commerce. Wowza Media Systems is privately-held with headquarters in Evergreen, Colorado. For more information, visit Wowza Media Systems at www.wowza.com.
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