Completed rocket static fire with all systems green this time. Launch window opens in 10 days.
That would put the first launch of the upgraded Falcon 9 on September 29. Not from Cape Canaveral, but from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
The upcoming launch from Vandenberg will for the first time feature a reusability demonstration. SpaceX plans to re-ignite the Falcon 9's first-stage engine in an attempt to make a soft water landing of the booster in the Pacific Ocean. The team at SpaceX tried to dampen expectations about this soft landing by stating that there would likely be several failures before the bugs are worked out of this new feature. Eventually though, reusability could drastically reduce the cost of space flight.
The upcoming launch from Vandenberg will for the first time feature a reusability demonstration. SpaceX plans to re-ignite the Falcon 9's first-stage engine in an attempt to make a soft water landing of the booster in the Pacific Ocean. The team at SpaceX tried to dampen expectations about this soft landing by stating that there would likely be several failures before the bugs are worked out of this new feature. Eventually though, reusability could drastically reduce the cost of space flight.
Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately 9.2 miles (14.8 km) northwest of Lompoc, California. It is used to place satellites into polar orbit from the West Coast.
Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4) was a launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, used by Atlas and Titan rockets between 1963 and 2005. Space Launch Complex 4E is currently being redeveloped and used by SpaceX as a launch site for the Falcon 9 rocket.
View Larger Map
No comments:
Post a Comment