SpaceX pushed “sniper” theory with the feds far more than is publicly known
The rocket was there. And then it decidedly was not.
Shortly after sunrise on a late summer morning nearly nine years ago at SpaceX's sole operational launch pad, engineers neared the end of a static fire test. These were still early days for their operation of a Falcon 9 rocket that used super-chilled liquid propellants, and engineers pressed to see how quickly they could complete fueling. This was because the liquid oxygen and kerosene fuel warmed quickly in Florida's sultry air, and cold propellants were essential to maximizing the rocket's performance.
On this morning, September 1, 2016, everything proceeded more or less nominally up until eight minutes before the ignition of the rocket's nine Merlin engines. It was a stable point in the countdown, so no one expected what happened next.