A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded in a test on September 1, one week before the UA’s mission was set to blast off from a nearby launch pad.
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The fireball that destroyed the Falcon 9 rocket occurred minutes before a scheduled pre-launch engine test. CEO Elon Musk called the explosion the most hard failure in the company’s 14-year history.
“SpaceX now operates three launch pads – two in Florida and one in California at Vandenberg Air Force Base”, said the company in a statement, emphasizing that the accident has had no effect on their other launch sites. “The current investigation has no bearing on this”, SpaceX spokesman Dex Torricke-Barton said.
Furthermore, SpaceX announced that its launch site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre located in Florida is expected to finish in November. The idea there is not only to give it back ups in the case of incidents like this, but also so that when it attempts to launch the Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time, perhaps later this year, there will be room for each of the first stage boosters to return to Earth safely.
The site of the maiden flight of the larger Falcon Heavy rocket, which SpaceX needs to carry the heaviest commercial and military satellites into orbit, is also undetermined.
SpaceX, which lost a rocket in a launch-pad fireball September 1, is seeking to restart flights in November.
The mishap will delay until next year the debut of SpaceX’s heavy-lift Falcon Heavy rocket, and it’s no longer certain that the mission will fly from KSC. Some industry officials have said the halt in Falcon 9 missions could stretch into early next year.
However, the company has taken a pledge to return to flight in a safe and reliable way.
But in a brief interview on the sidelines of the conference, NASA chief Charles Bolden said the Florida pad seemed most likely.
The company also didn’t say how much damage the blast caused to the launch pad and support equipment. “Spacecraft and launch vehicles designed for the Commercial Crew Program must meet NASA’s stringent safety criteria before being certified to launch crews into space”.
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“Still working on the Falcon fireball investigation”, said Musk. SpaceX will reportedly pay Spacecom, makers of the satellite, $50 million in compensation or offer a free launch in the future.
