Launch News SpaceX Falcon 9 F3 COTS2+ Updates

[Ark]

It was short enough that I thought they called an abort.

I guess we know it won't blow up as soon as they light.

 

[orb]

Parabolic Arc: SpaceX Successfully Static Fires Falcon 9

Florida Today: SpaceX fire Falcon 9 engines to complete test

CBS News Space: SpaceX test fires Falcon 9 engines in prelude to May 7 station flight

SPACE.com: SpaceX Test Fires Private Rocket Bound for Space Station

Universe Today: SpaceX Static Test Fire a Success

RIA Novosti: NASA Says Static Fire Tests of ISS-bound Dragon Successful

Spaceflight Now: Falcon 9 engine hotfire test completed at Cape Canaveral


Parabolic Arc: Dragon to Set Sail for Space Station

Florida Today: Falcon 9 dry run delights SpaceX

 

[orb]

Video of the test fire

 

[NovaSilisko]

Meetings between the NASA and SpaceX teams on Tuesday concluded in the May 7 launch date being put in serious doubt. No official launch slip has been confirmed at this time. However, multiple sources are noting the launch date is under review and likely slipping - with extra information expected on Wednesday.

NASASpaceflight Article(See "UPDATE 2" section)

 

[FADEC]

Seems that they step into the footprints of NASA. Falcon 9 might gather moss and lots of bird droppings before launch, like the Shuttles did many times.

 

[Unstung]

Well, the first Tuesday the launch was delayed to obviously didn't work. It'll be unbelievable when Dragon actually goes up, but as long as it succeeds.

 

[N_Molson]

Spaceflight Now

[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=+2]Next Monday's SpaceX Falcon 9 launch date in doubt[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-2]BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: May 1, 2012[/SIZE][/FONT]

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--The long-awaited launch of a commercial cargo ship bound for the International Space Station almost certainly will be delayed from May 7 to at least May 10 and possibly longer, sources said late Tuesday, to give company engineers additional time to complete pre-flight tests and checkout.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]Artist's concept of the Dragon spacecraft approaching the International Space Station. Credit: NASA[/SIZE][/FONT]

SpaceX founder and chief designer Elon Musk discussed the results of an engine test firing Monday and the overall status of launch processing with senior NASA managers in a Tuesday afternoon teleconference that included Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's director of space operations, and Mike Suffredini, the NASA space station program manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Multiple NASA sources said the current May 7 target had been ruled out, although there was confusion in some quarters as to whether there might be a slim chance of keeping on schedule if additional analyses could be completed in time.

That did not appear likely, but NASA had no official comment on the launch date discussions because the SpaceX flight is being billed as a commercial operation and "it's up to SpaceX to make any announcements," one official said. Kirstin Brost Grantham, a SpaceX spokeswoman, had no immediate comment.

Because of test requirements and the nature of the space station's orbit, SpaceX cannot attempt back-to-back launch attempts on successive days. For this demonstration flight, attempts can only be made every third day.

For a launch on May 7, SpaceX would have a backup opportunity on May 10. After that, the company would have to stand down until May 19 or even later to make way for launch of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three fresh station crew members. The Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft is scheduled for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:01 p.m. EDT (GMT-4) on May 14 with docking expected two days later.

Multiple sources said May 7 was no longer a viable launch target for SpaceX but that the company was still holding out hope for May 10. A final decision was expected by the end of the week, if not sooner.

NASA space station managers would prefer to delay the flight until after the Soyuz docking because there would be no backup opportunity if the weather or a technical problem prevented takeoff May 10 and because SpaceX would not have a second chance to dock with the station if something went awry during the rendezvous.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule is the first commercial cargo ship to be cleared for launch to the station, a key element in NASA's long-range strategy to use private-sector spacecraft to help keep the station supplied in the absence of the space shuttle. SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., holds a $1.6 billion contract to launch 12 resupply missions while Orbital Sciences of MacLean, Va., holds a contract valued at $1.9 billion for eight missions.
Both companies hold separate contracts for test flights and SpaceX is first to the launch pad with its Falcon 9/Dragon spacecraft.

Following a successful test flight in December 2010, SpaceX successfully lobbied NASA to combine a second and third into a single mission that would include the first Dragon berthing with the station. Launch originally was targeted for early February, but the flight has been repeatedly pushed back to give SpaceX additional time to validate its trajectory analysis and command software. Such delays are not unusual given a first flight of this complexity.

Sources said the latest slip came in the wake of recent software modifications by SpaceX that required additional verification.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

:facepalm:
Come on, guys. Get it together! :rant:

 

[C3PO]

Such delays are not unusual given a first flight of this complexity.

Delayed from June 6, Oct. 8, Nov. 30, Dec. 19, Jan. 7, Feb. 7, March 20, and April 30.

We can add May 7 and probably May 10. IMHO it's going towards "a bit unusual"

PS: I would have thought that launch and reentry is more complex than rendezvous and grapple. And this is actually the 3'rd flight.

Maybe the certification is the complex part. I hate to think what the delays will be like when SpaceX try to get the Dragon man-rated.

 

[FADEC]

I hate to think what the delays will be like when SpaceX try to get the Dragon man-rated.

Just a little less painful than waiting years for the first MPCV test flight. But I still think that Dragon might be first, and that the MPCV even might never see the light of space.

 

[Alfastar]

I almost ask to myself: Go have the Dragon the same fate as Buran? Only 1 test launch and nothing more in practice.

 

[FADEC]

I almost ask to myself: Go have the Dragon the same fate as Buran? Only 1 test launch and nothing more in practice.

Well, there is no Soviet Union which is going to collapse. Also, I'd think that Falcon 9 and Dragon are more well-engineered in comparison to Buran (as far as I know there were certain issues, for example with Burans computer software etc.). Plus SpaceX gets money from NASA as long as they manage to support the ISS.

 

[Sky Captain]

I guess they don't want to take any chances and rush a mission without making sure every system works perfectly. A failure would be worse and cause longer setback than delaying mission few months to check and recheck everything.

 

[N_Molson]

A failure would be worse and cause longer setback than delaying mission few months to check and recheck everything.

That's a valid point, given the context, SpaceX has absolutely no room for error, I think. I can understand they are getting nervous. Musk made a lot of loud announcements, now it's time for some concrete result.

 

[Alfastar]

That's a valid point, given the context, SpaceX has absolutely no room for error, I think. I can understand they are getting nervous. Musk made a lot of loud announcements, now it's time for some concrete result.

1: If there have no room for error, why there shift every time the launch date? Means that that the Dragon always have a ''error''?

2: There know really the results if there do launch it, and not stay it on earth.

 

[C3PO]

I guess they don't want to take any chances and rush a mission without making sure every system works perfectly. A failure would be worse and cause longer setback than delaying mission few months to check and recheck everything.

Why would a failed launch be worse for Falcon 9 then any other rocket? Lots of rockets have failed during test flights. Demanding a 100% successful development phase is a tall order. I can't think of any NASA led programme that has managed that.

Failure would be an economic setback for SpaceX, but AFAIK it wasn't SpaceX that requested the delay.

 

[N_Molson]

Why would a failed launch be worse for Falcon 9 then any other rocket?

Because the whole COTS thing is already severly underfunded and that SpaceX lives through the governemental money (at least for now)...

 

[Cras]

And it is the first one. If they send it up and it explodes, or something prevents it from safely docking, it will only serve to feed the flames for people who see commercial space as dangerous.

 

[Kyle]

Hearing NET May 19th now.

 

[Codz]

This is getting ridiculous.