Space Exploration Technologies
(SpaceX) announced Friday that it will not attempt the second
launch of its Falcon 1
rocket before mid-February.
The announcement came the same day
the El Segundo, Calif.-based company was preparing to conduct a static fire test
of the rocket in preparation for a planned
Jan. 22 launch from the Kwajalein
Atoll in the Pacific Ocean [image].
SpaceX CEO
Elon Musk, in an update posted on the company's website, said the decision
to postpone was due to concerns about the thrust vector control pitch actuator
on the Falcon 1's second stage. The anomaly was discovered during a final
checkout of the Falcon 1 in preparation for the static fire, a thorough
on-the-pad shakeout of the rocket that culminates with a short four-second main
engine burn.
Since the suspect component does not
come into play during the static fire, SpaceX intends to go ahead and conduct
the test between Jan. 20 and Jan. 23. After that, Musk said, the rocket will be
taken back to its hangar to permit a thorough investigation of the thrust
vector control issue.
SpaceX, which had reserved a two-day
window for the launch attempt, loses use of the range for a while starting Jan.
24 when the U.S. military is expected to begin preparation for an upcoming
Minuteman missile test.
Musk said the company is now
planning for a mid-February launch attempt, but emphasized that it is far from
certain that the Falcon will actually lift off then.
"As I've mentioned previously, don't
hold your breath for this launch," Musk said. "Given the large number of
robustness improvements and the fact that our vehicle/pad health verification
system has increased from about 30 checks to almost 1000, shifts in the launch
date are to be expected. Overall, the SpaceX team is quite happy with the
smooth progress so far."
Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's vice
president of business development, told SPACE.com that the Falcon 1
launch's mid-February flight window opens on Feb. 18. The booster will carry
two experimental payloads - including a low-cost satellite communications
tranceiver and an autonomous flight safety system - will launch aboard the
Falcon 1's next flight, Shotwell added.
The upcoming launch is a
demonstration flight paid for by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA), which also paid for the Falcon 1's unsuccessful
debut last March [image].
SPACE.com Staff Writer Tariq
Malik contributed to this report.
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