SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch, June 4, 2010

[voyager4d]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

Launch Date: NET 5/16/2010, 1700-2100Z
http://msdb.gsfc.nasa.gov/MissionData.php?mission=Falcon-9 ELV First Flight Demonstration

 

[mr_mark]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

This just in........Airforce has just cleared Spacex launch date for Falcon 9 test flight. May 23rd. Go Falcon 9!

 

[mr_mark]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

Liftoff T-0 is now cleared and scheduled by the US Airforce for May 23rd at 1pm eastern time.

 

[shuttle_guy]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

This just in........Airforce has just cleared Spacex launch date for Falcon 9 test flight. May 23rd. Go Falcon 9!

GREAT NEWS ! Thanks.

 

[mr_mark]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

Launch about a week away... that is if that date by the US Airforce and insiders at NASA is correct. Haven't heard anything from Spacex yet. Sometimes they don't announce until just days before. We'll have to stay posted.... :?

 

[newsartist]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

Could they launch if some of the range assets were still supporting the possibility of an early landing by Atlantis?

 

[ZiraldoAerospace]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

Any new news as to whether they will launch on Sunday? I can't wait!

 

[voyager4d]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

Any new news as to whether they will launch on Sunday? I can't wait!

They will not, the new target date is May 27 or 28.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/001/status.html

 

[shuttle_guy]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

Could they launch if some of the range assets were still supporting the possibility of an early landing by Atlantis?

Per our range contact:

Space X has requested a new launch date of 27 May 2010, however this is in conflict with the STS-132 landing. Currently, STS-132 mission has 26-28 May reserved on the range. We will need to wait to find out resolution on their FTS system, and an approved date by the range.

 

[shuttle_guy]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

From spaceflightnow.com:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 2010
Air Force officials say SpaceX has requested May 27 and May 28 to launch its first Falcon 9 rocket, if safety managers approve the booster's destruct mechanism in time.
The May 27 date would conflict with the planned landing of the shuttle Atlantis May 26. It takes up to 48 hours to reconfigure tracking and communications assets between operations at Cape Canaveral, likely putting the first Falcon 9 launch attempt no earlier than May 28.

SpaceX has also moved the launch window for the mission. The window will now open at 11 a.m. EDT and close at 3 p.m. EDT, two hours earlier than previously planned.

The launch date hinges on the Air Force's approval of the Falcon 9 rocket's flight termination system, an explosive charge along the length of the booster that would destroy the vehicle if it encountered problems and flew off course.

"SpaceX is working closely with Ensign Bickford to complete testing of the explosive elements of the FTS system, but there are other components, such as the FTS radios, antennas and the transponder that come from other suppliers as well," the company said in a Web update earlier this month. "All of these components must be qualified specifically for our flight environments, so unfortunately, it is not simply a case of buying 'off the shelf.'"

The company says it is submitting the results of the testing to the Air Force, which will issue final approval of the destruct system.

SpaceX is not setting an official launch date until the testing is completed, but it provides occasional updates to the Air Force Eastern Range, which oversees the Florida spaceport.

 

[vulture4]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

It appears flight termination system approval has been problematic for the first launches of Delta IV, Arees I-X, and Atlas V as well. Let's look for the common thread. Hey, the only thing they have in common is the range safety requirements and approval process. Maybe that's the part that's broke and needs to be fixed. The requirement for liquid propellant vehicles for complete destruction of the vehicle rather than simply termination of thrust as other launch sites use is inexplicable, for example, as is the agonizingly slow adoption of modern tracking methods.

There have been proposals to modernize the range for decades, and they have all failed. One problem, I was told by a manager of one of the modernization proposals, is that any real modernization would reduce manpower requirements and therefore incumbent contractors do everything they can to impede the process. But it might make the US more competitive and win back some of the commercial satellite launch market, a field where the US once led but now does miserably. Hey, what's the only US launch provider with more than one or two real commercial (i.e. not government funded) payloads on its order book? Could it be SpaceX?

 

[stevekk]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

I was looking on the SpaceX site for when they actually had a successful flight. I couldn't find that information. I did see that the Falcon 1 is now obsolete, and has been replaced by the Falcon 1e. So that means that SpaceX doesn't have any flight experience with the 2 current launch vehicles they are selling to customers. I haven't heard anything about when the first 1e is supposed to launch. Doesn't sound like it will happen this year, since it is listed after the 3 NASA COTS demo flights they also have on the manifest for this year.

Realistically, when do you think the first COTS demo flight will happen ? How about the first flight of the Falcon 1e ?

SpaceX isn't in the commercial launch business if they don't actually launch any rockets. That's no more a business plan than building electric cars that no one can afford to purchase.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

Your post would be better off in the SpaceX updates thread in Space Business and Technology, since it's not about this specific launch.

MMW

 

[job1207]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

tick tock.

never expect an armed service to hold to your schedule.

tick tock.....

 

[shuttle_guy]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

The latest target date for the launch is now June 2.

 

[shuttle_guy]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

I was looking on the SpaceX site for when they actually had a successful flight. I couldn't find that information. I did see that the Falcon 1 is now obsolete, and has been replaced by the Falcon 1e. So that means that SpaceX doesn't have any flight experience with the 2 current launch vehicles they are selling to customers. I haven't heard anything about when the first 1e is supposed to launch. Doesn't sound like it will happen this year, since it is listed after the 3 NASA COTS demo flights they also have on the manifest for this year.

Realistically, when do you think the first COTS demo flight will happen ? How about the first flight of the Falcon 1e ?

SpaceX isn't in the commercial launch business if they don't actually launch any rockets. That's no more a business plan than building electric cars that no one can afford to purchase.

There is a 1e launce on their schedule. I understand the 1e is the same as the Falcon 1 except for the upgraded engine, with, of course, the changes made from the previouse Falcon 1 launches.

 

[docm]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

F9-01 has slipped to no earlier than June 2/3 because of the problems getting the Delta IV off the ground.

http://www.spacenews.com/launch/100526- ... -june.html

 

[shuttle_guy]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

F9-01 has slipped to no earlier than June 2/3 because of the problems getting the Delta IV off the ground.

http://www.spacenews.com/launch/100526- ... -june.html

Actually the real l reason for the launch slip is still the LES reviews:

From SpaceFlightNow.com

WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2010
The earliest the Falcon 9 rocket could blast off from Cape Canaveral is June 2, as the Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration continue reviewing the vehicle's flight termination system.
A SpaceX spokesperson announced the new target date late Tuesday, but the Falcon 9's ultimate appointment on the Air Force Eastern Range will depend on the conclusion of the paperwork reviews and other launch traffic at the Cape.

Ken Wong, manager of the FAA's licensing and safety division, said the agency issued SpaceX a commercial launch license for the Falcon 9 rocket earlier this year.

But the FAA and the Air Force are both responsible for the safety of the public and third-party property that could be put at risk during the launch.

"What we're doing is we're reviewing some test documentation related to the flight termination system to ensure compliance with FAA licensing requirements," Wong said in an interview Tuesday.

Air Force officials were not available for comment Monday or Tuesday.

Wong said the issue is with several components of the destruct package, which includes linear-shaped charges along the length of the rocket. If the booster flew off course during launch, safety officials could trigger the mechanism to destroy the rocket before it threatened people.

SpaceX says it is working with Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense Co. to resolve the issues and gain approval for launch. Ensign Bickford is the prime supplier of the Falcon 9 flight termination system.

Wong declined to identify the specific parts under the most scrutiny, and he would not estimate when the reviews could be finished.

"If you have a vehicle which has launched several times, where you have a flight termination system that has already completed qualification testing, then in subsequent launches, you would not have as many test-related issues with the flight termination system," Wong said Tuesday.

"In the case of Falcon 9, where you have a new vehicle with a new flight termination system, that's why you get a lot more of these testing issues and things that have to be reviewed," Wong said.

Launch and landing activity at the Cape has range assets booked this week and in parts of early June, further complicating SpaceX's plans to debut the 15-story rocket.

 

[trailrider]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

Ah, the gravel-crushers are still at it! Of course, this certification is necessary to insure we don't have any "uprange" flights, but it would be nice if the paper shuffle could be wound up, so we can get on with the flight.

BTW, as an aside, I worked with Ensign Bickford's equipment forty years ago, so they are a well-qualified company. However...after forty or fifty years as an "ensign," don't you think Bickford could be promoted to at least Lt. (jg)?

 

[job1207]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

http://www.eba-d.com/about.php

There are two names there. Bickford was a civil war era guy. He invented a demolition safety fuse.

http://www.eba-d.com/history.php

I am not sure where Ensign came in. But you are right, these are the blow up the rocket folks. They have been providing these systems since 1965. I can't remember any self destruct orders in my lifetime. Before my life time, they did that, and as far as I can remember that has always worked.

 

[Boris_Badenov]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

As announced by Docm over at NSF the Delta IV/GPS mission is clear & the range is now open for Falcon 9 1.0. If IIUC it takes 48 hours for the range to recycle. That makes the range available around the afternoon of the 29th. How soon is the next launch window open for SpaceX? Is it still 3, 4 June?

 

[robotical]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

It feels like a string is being dangled in front of us and just when we're about to grasp it it gets yanked just a little bit further away. Yes, I'm not very good at being patient.

 

[vulture4]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

BTW, as an aside, I worked with Ensign Bickford's equipment forty years ago, so they are a well-qualified company. However...after forty or fifty years as an "ensign," don't you think Bickford could be promoted to at least Lt. (jg)?

One wonders if there have been any improvement in range safety technology and operational and approval procedures in all these decades to make it less expensive, more reliable, or easier and faster to implement in new designs?

 

[mr_mark]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

Go ahead given for launch this Friday June 4th!!! FTS documentation will clear before then and launch has been given ok. Rollout Wednesday (tomorrow June 2nd)!

 

[docm]

Re: Upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 Flight 1 Launch

Just hit my inbox....

http://www.spacex.com/webcast.php

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

SpaceX is now targeting Friday, June 4th for its first test launch attempt of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle.

The primary schedule driver for the first Falcon 9 test launch has been certification of the flight termination system (FTS). The FTS ensures that Air Force Range safety officials can command the destruction of the vehicle should it stray from its designated flight path.

The successful liftoff of the recent GPS satellite launch last Thursday freed up the necessary Range resources to process our final documentation, and we are now looking good for final approval of the FTS by this Friday, June 4th, just in time for our first launch attempt.

Today we completed end to end testing of the Falcon 9 as required by the Air Force Range and everything was nominal. Later this evening, we will finish final system connections for the FTS. Tomorrow we plan to rollout in the morning, and erect the vehicle in the afternoon. On Friday, the targeted schedule is as follows:

Friday 4 June 2010

Launch Window Opens: 11:00 AM Eastern / 8:00 AM Pacific / 1500 UTC

Launch window lasts 4 hours. SpaceX has also reserved a second launch day on Saturday 5 June, with the same hours.

As always, weather will play a significant role in our overall launch schedule. The weather experts at the Cape are giving us a 40% chance of "no go" conditions for both days of our window, citing the potential for cumulus clouds and anvil clouds from thunderstorms.

If the weather cooperates, SpaceX will provide a live webcast of the launch events, presently scheduled to begin 20 minutes prior to the opening of the launch window. Click here to visit our webcast page which will also be accessible from our home page the day of launch.

It's important to note that since this is a test launch, our primary goal is to collect as much data as possible, with success being measured as a percentage of how many flight milestones we are able to complete in this first attempt. It would be a great day if we reach orbital velocity, but still a good day if the first stage functions correctly, even if the second stage malfunctions. It would be a bad day if something happens on the launch pad itself and we're not able to gain any flight data.

If we have a bad day, it will be disappointing, but one launch does not make or break SpaceX as a company, nor commercial spaceflight as an industry. The Atlas rocket only succeeded on its 13th flight, and today it is the most reliable vehicle in the American fleet, with a record better than Shuttle.

Regardless of the outcome, this first launch attempt represents a key milestone for both SpaceX and the commercial spaceflight industry. Keep in mind the launch dates and times are still subject to change, so please check the webcast page above for updates to this schedule. We appreciate your ongoing support and we hope you will tune in on launch day.