SpaceX Strike Two! March 21, 2007
Posted by Brian Pfeifer in Bigelow Aerospace, Blue Origin, News and politics, Space Startups, SpaceX.trackback
SpaceX was forced to abort their second launch attempt this week a mere eleven seconds before engine ignition. Monday’s computer triggered abort was due to a few millisecond gap between when the land-line telemetry link shut down and the RF telemetry link powered up. Software engineers fixed that glitch before Tuesday’s launch window, but it wasn’t enough.
If you asked Elon Musk if he was surprised by two aborts in a row, he’d probably answer in the negative. After the spectacular destruction of Falcon 1 booster, SpaceX added hundreds of new self-diagnostics routines in the rocket. Months ago Musk suggested that they were likely to generate several false-positives before the first successful launch.
Looks like SpaceX is not done for the night. Looks like the abort was due to a fuel problem. They are in the process of recycling the countdown clock for another try starting from T-15 minutes.
Update! Telemetry lost five minutes into flight. Moments after liftoff, Omelek Island could be seen retreating into the distance as the booster gained altitude. The rocket climbed out of the atmosphere and the second stage successfully separated and ignited its engine. The payload cowling separated and both halves fell away towards the earth. In the final moments before the video feed was cut off, the second stage engine appeared to wobble unexpectedly. SpaceX is counting this as a successful flight even though the payload may have been lost. If nothing else, this proves that their reusable first stage operates well, and should be recovered from the Pacific Ocean to support future launches.
SpaceX is not the only startup with flights coming up in the next few weeks. The FAA has cleared the airspace around the Blue Origin ranch on the 22nd though 27th to allow for test flights of their New Shepherd sub-orbital vehicle. In early April, Bigelow Aerospace will put Genesis II into orbit on a Russian Dnepr booster. This will mark their second sub-scale inflatable habitat demonstrator. The next Soyuz flight in April will feature space tourist Charles Simonyi. Whether or not the Falcon 1 flies, the next few weeks should be exciting.
Did they recover the 1st stage from the Pacific?
I have seen one unconfirmmed source state that the first stage has been succesefully recovered. Without having gone through the process yet, they estimate that it may cost $50,000 to refurbish it for it’s next flight.
In a Spaceflight Daily (www.spaceflightdaily.com) article, Elon Musk states that the first stage was not recovered. The GPS tracking system malfunctioned during the countdown, and was not fixed. The recovery boat went out to the anticipated location of the splashdown, but were unable to locate the first stage.