SpaceX tries to fly an untested rocket, silence the engine problem

SpaceX hasn’t launched a new rocket since June, when it upgraded a GPS III satellite for the US Space Force to a Falcon 9 rocket. Since that time, the company has launched several commercial missions and its own Starlink satellites on a variety of previously piloted rockets. and they have been successful.

However, when the company tried to launch a new Falcon 9 first stage on October 2 – this was for another GPS satellite, called GPS III-04 – the attempt was canceled at T-2 seconds. Later, SpaceX’s Hans Koenigsmann explained that two of the rocket’s nine first stage engines fired early during the early October launch attempt, and this triggered an automatic shutdown of the engines.

This problem was eventually traced back to a small piece of lacquer used during a metal treatment process that should have been removed before the flight, but was not. Now the company believes it has addressed the problem, which is good because the company has three major missions coming up for the US government, all scheduled to fly new rockets.

The first is a second attempt to launch the GPS III-04 satellite, and this will take place on Thursday evening. A Falcon 9 rocket, with two of its Merlin engines replaced, is expected to take off at 18:24 EST (23:24 UTC) from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The nearly four-ton satellite will be deployed in a transfer orbit with an apogee of approximately 20,000 km.

Provided this mission is a success and solves the lacquer problem, SpaceX will then proceed with its second manned launch, that of a Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, along with the specialist. mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Sôichi Noguchi, to the International Space Station. That mission is currently scheduled for November 14th.

And finally, SpaceX has another mission for NASA scheduled for no earlier than November 21, the launch of the Sentinel-6 Earth observation probe from the Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Although it investigated the lacquer problem, SpaceX was able to fly its proven rockets because those early stages had already proven that they were unaffected by the production problem. It is also worth noting that both the Space Force and NASA have reached agreements with SpaceX to fly their missions to the first stages used for future missions.

Provided tonight’s GPS III mission takes off (current weather forecasts support a 60% chance of favorable conditions) SpaceX will attempt to land on its first stage. Of course I still love you droneship. The company’s launch webcast below is expected to start about 15 minutes before the launch window opens.

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