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SpaceX’s Resets Next Launch Attempt to February |
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EL SEGUNDO, CA, Jan. 22, 2007/Satnews Daily/ ― SpaceX Technologies has reset its next launch attempt to February after it uncovered an anomaly on Falcon 1’s thrust vector control (TVC) pitch actuator on the second stage.
On Wednesday last week, SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk announced that the company was conducting its static fire on Friday, January 19, and said if there would be no issue, they would proceed with the second launch attempt today, Monday, Jan. 22, of the company’s Falcon-1 launch vehicle.
Musk explained that during our final check-outs prior to Friday’s static fire, they uncovered an anomaly with the TVC pitch actuator resulting in launch being pushed to February.
“Since this is not used during the static fire, we have decided to push forward with that test in order to acquire valuable data on engine ignition, pad acoustics, and the overall system response.” He said the static fire is now planned to occur between Saturday and Tuesday (California time). The test will proceed very slowly and then only burns for about four seconds.
Musk said upon completion of the static fire, they will take the rocket back into the hangar to thoroughly investigate the TVC issue. With the range available to SpaceX only until January 23, this means launch is now planned for mid-February, Musk said. Kwajalein will need to be reconfigured for an incoming Minuteman mission.
SpaceX said the company’s vehicle/pad health verification system has increased from about 30 checks to almost 1000 so shifts in the launch date are to be expected. But Musk said overall, the SpaceX team is quite happy with the smooth progress so far.
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