The rocket was "safe," according to a SpaceX agent in Hawthorne. Crews were alive to abolition the engines and accomplish abiding there was no fire. No date has been set for another, fourth barrage attempt.
The ascent had been appointed for 6:46 p.m. ET, but was delayed afterwards a address sailed into the bend of the "keep out" zone, according to a cheep from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
The company's aboriginal two attempts to barrage the SES-9 digital adjourned on Wednesday and Thursday.
In both cases, SpaceX cited challenges befitting the two-stage rocket's accumulation of aqueous oxygen at algid abundant temperatures.
Wednesday's admission was apoplectic about a half-hour afore the barrage window opened, afore the aqueous oxygen was loaded assimilate the 230-foot rocket. Thursday's admission adjourned beneath than two account afore a planned blastoff.
The Falcon 9 is aerial for the additional time in what SpaceX calls its "upgraded" or "full thrust" version, which uses aqueous oxygen algid about to its freezing point to accomplish it added dense, so tanks can authority more.
The upgraded rocket generates added thrust, enabling it to lift added payloads and creating added opportunities for SpaceX to try to acreage the first-stage boosters.
The fueling action begins just 30 account afore the targeted barrage time, and SpaceX has said there's alone abundant time during the window to accomplish that action once. If the rocket isn't accessible to go at the targeted time, the aqueous oxygen have to be offloaded and the barrage delayed to addition day.
The about 12,000-pound SES-9 satellite, endemic by Luxembourg-based digital abettor SES, is the heaviest yet that a Falcon 9 will try to lift to an apogee added than 22,000 afar over the equator, acute all of the the rocket's performance.
SpaceX affairs to try to acreage the booster on a address amid 400 afar down range. Given the acceleration the rocket will be traveling and bound ammunition to spare, the aggregation has said a acknowledged landing is unlikely.
The ambition is to accomplish rocket flights added affordable by convalescent and again reusing rocket stages. SpaceX landed its aboriginal booster in December, auspiciously aerial it aback to a pad at Cape Canaveral.
Blogger Comment
Facebook Comment