Spacex scheduled relaunch of a recovered booster is scheduled for this Thursday
by noreply@blogger.com (brian wang) from NextBigFuture.com on (#2H8DS)
SpaceX is now targeting 6 p.m. Thursday for its first re-launch of a used Falcon 9 rocket booster, a mission that aims to loft a commercial communications satellite to orbit from Kennedy Space Center.
Launch teams on Monday aimed to fuel the two-stage rocket during a practice countdown culminating in a short test-firing of nine Merlin main engines at Launch Complex 39A.
Delays completing the test over the weekend pushed a planned Wednesday launch of the SES-10 satellite back a day.
There's a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather during the window, according to the Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron. The odds drop slightly to 60 percent "go" on Friday, the mission's backup launch day.
'Flight proven' SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket poised for second launch
Meanwhile, United Launch Alliance continues to troubleshoot a hydraulic issue on an Atlas V rocket's main engine, an issue that has delayed its planned launch of an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo craft to the International Space Station.
The mission won't fly from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station until after the Falcon 9's upcoming attempts.
The first stage of the Falcon rocket being tested today launched an ISS resupply mission nearly a year ago. SpaceX landed the booster on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean and has refurbished it for a second flight - the company's first attempt to launch a used, or "flight proven," booster.
Read more
Launch teams on Monday aimed to fuel the two-stage rocket during a practice countdown culminating in a short test-firing of nine Merlin main engines at Launch Complex 39A.
Delays completing the test over the weekend pushed a planned Wednesday launch of the SES-10 satellite back a day.
There's a 70 percent chance of acceptable weather during the window, according to the Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron. The odds drop slightly to 60 percent "go" on Friday, the mission's backup launch day.
'Flight proven' SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket poised for second launch
Meanwhile, United Launch Alliance continues to troubleshoot a hydraulic issue on an Atlas V rocket's main engine, an issue that has delayed its planned launch of an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo craft to the International Space Station.
The mission won't fly from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station until after the Falcon 9's upcoming attempts.
The first stage of the Falcon rocket being tested today launched an ISS resupply mission nearly a year ago. SpaceX landed the booster on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean and has refurbished it for a second flight - the company's first attempt to launch a used, or "flight proven," booster.
Read more