Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

cIclops · 2007-03-06 03:54:17

SpaceX - Demoflight 2 update - 5 Mar 2007

The launch window is now March 19th to 22nd (California time) During extended ground testing in late February, one of our second stage thrust vector control boards indicated a problem. Although our analysis showed substantial margin for flight, we decided nonetheless to increase the robustness of certain of the components and run a delta qualification.

Xth time lucky.

GCNRevenger · 2007-03-06 11:31:30

If they don't hurry up and the light that candle, its going to be "N+1th" time lucky.

John Creighton · 2007-03-09 00:48:01

What is taking so long?

Grypd · 2007-03-09 07:02:19

They cannot afford another failure. And they are a small outfit.

cIclops · 2007-03-10 05:07:25

They cannot afford another failure. And they are a small outfit.

SpaceX are not that small anymore, they have contracts worth hundreds of millions with NASA and USAF. A second failure won't be pretty, but it won't put them out of business. A third failure is another matter.

GCNRevenger · 2007-03-10 07:41:17

Really? But don't these contracts largely hinge on the availability of Falcon-I, -V, and even -IX?

cIclops · 2007-03-10 07:58:34

Really? But don't these contracts largely hinge on the availability of Falcon-I, -V, and even -IX?

Yes they do, but they will be able to survive a second failure. That amount of funding protects them financially otherwise SpaceX would be dependent on Musk's far more limited resources. BTW Falcon 5 is dead and gone, it has been replaced by Falcon 9.

GCNRevenger · 2007-03-10 08:17:25

No. Because the funding is available on condition that their rocket works, not the other way around I bet. No Buck Rodgers, no bucks, in AltSpace land.

Elon said SpaceX could handle two failures, but he said that two years ago, and Falcon-I-2 is much more complex and has been delayed for a very long and very expensive time.

I think chances are bad for the company surviving if the March launch fails.

cIclops · 2007-03-10 08:25:38

NASA COTS have funded a Falcon 9 demo flight in Sep 2008 provided SpaceX meet the milestones, the success of the current Falcon 1 launch is not one of those milestones. That flight will probably go ahead even if the current launch fails.

GCNRevenger · 2007-03-10 08:51:58

And is not one of these milestones a successful Falcon-I launch?

cIclops · 2007-03-10 10:03:11

Not according to the text of the Space Act Agreement signed between NASA and SpaceX on 26 Jun 2006.

GCNRevenger · 2007-03-10 13:27:54

Swell... Griffin did precisely what he said he wouldn't then.

cIclops · 2007-03-10 13:55:31

What did he say? He seems to be giving every chance to SpaceX and RpK to develop low cost launchers; they also get the full expertise of NASA reviewing their work.

GCNRevenger · 2007-03-10 14:40:55

He said that he wouldn't fork over big bushels of cash to AltSpace outfits with no strings attached.

cIclops · 2007-03-18 05:29:58

SpaceX update - 16 Mar 2007

At present, it appears that we are on track for a launch next week, possibly as soon as Monday. We had a very successful static fire yesterday that proceeded smoothly with no aborts.
Our initial review of the data showed that the rocket functioned almost perfectly. The only remaining concern is that the GPS portion of the guidance system showed an anomaly about 15 minutes *after* the static fire. Falcon 1 is designed to achieve its target orbit purely on inertial navigation, so the GPS, while helpful for improving orbit inseration accuracy, is not flight critical.
We are carefully analyzing the GPS and, more importantly, are making sure that the GPS problem does not hint at some larger issue. I will send out an update on Sunday confirming what day we will have our first countdown attempt.
<edited refs to videos - see link above>
There will be a total of 12 cameras looking at the rocket on launch day, including two thermal imaging and two vehicle cams, so no shortage visual data.
I know it has been a year since our last launch and some people are wondering if launch 3 will also be a year away if something goes wrong this time. The answer is definitely no. The reason it took us a year is that the vehicle on the pad and the ground support equipment have hundreds of robustness upgrades -- this is really Falcon 1 version 2.
There is nothing significant that we can think of to improve the vehicles under construction for the Dept of Defense and Malaysian satellite launches later this year. Therefore, no matter what happens, I do not expect there to be a significant delay in their approximate end of summer and mid fall launch dates.
On a separate note, we have made tremendous progress with the Falcon 9 development and I'm way overdue in posting a big update on progress. Should have that out sometime next month. Between ramping up for NASA COTS and the F1 launch, time has been a little tight around here
--Elon--

Mars_B4_Moon · 2007-03-19 03:12:03

Not according to the text of the Space Act Agreement signed between NASA and SpaceX on 26 Jun 2006.

More outsourcing, well at least this time they ain't offshoring to Asia or some 2nd/3rd world nation.

Grypd · 2007-03-19 18:04:09

well the launch is currently stopped at T-1:02

just enjoying the pod cast 8)

Grypd · 2007-03-19 18:12:32

So launch is scrubbed for today

pity was looking good.

Grypd · 2007-03-20 11:29:52

SpaceX will try again at 12 midnight GMT or 4pm Californian time.

The problem was down to a communication glitch between computers and the problem reguired some reprogramming to sort and it is now fixed.

Grypd · 2007-03-20 18:09:19

Another scrub, this time though at point of launching the rocket. At least they where able to scrub the launch with the main engine firing.

Edit
There will be a new launchtime at 5:05 pacific time 01:05 gmt

Grypd · 2007-03-20 19:27:29

And its away the falcon flew. First stage seperation and second stage appear to be working fine. Lost the podcast at that time pity due to the server being too busy.

Looks as if there is a completely private space launching company in existence at last.

Edit

Telemetery has apparently been lost 5 minutes into the flight.

noosfractal · 2007-03-20 21:37:42

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceN … 5220070321

Reuters says ...

About five minutes into the flight, a problem cropped up with the booster's second-stage engine, which shut down early due to an unexpected roll, said Space Exploration Technologies chief Elon Musk.

"We feel that is something straightforward to fix," Musk told reporters in a conference call after the flight. "It's definitely a good day."

The rocket's second stage likely re-entered the atmosphere after less than one orbit of Earth, Musk added.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2007-03-21 02:54:24

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceN … 5220070321
Reuters says ...
About five minutes into the flight, a problem cropped up with the booster's second-stage engine

In other words...another failure

Marsman · 2007-03-21 03:54:50

I wouldn't call it another failure. Compared to last launch it was a success and they have clearly improved in many areas. How many failures has NASA and its contractors had over the years? Failure is a part of the learning curve.

cIclops · 2007-03-21 04:56:38

If only the media would give NASA a break like this. Here are some headlines:

Falcon 1 Launched Into Space
SpaceX launches new rocket into space
SpaceX lifts off after chills and thrills
Private rocket hits new heights

and best of all:

Private rocket reaches the stars

SpaceX lost their payload, lost telemetry, lost the second stage and didn't reach orbit. How do you call that a successful launch? Redefining the word failure doesn't change reality. They are zero out of two.

It seems the first stage worked ok, hopefully they'll tell us the whole story after they recover it.

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#226 2007-03-06 03:54:17

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#227 2007-03-06 11:31:30

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#228 2007-03-09 00:48:01

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#229 2007-03-09 07:02:19

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#230 2007-03-10 05:07:25

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#231 2007-03-10 07:41:17

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#232 2007-03-10 07:58:34

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#233 2007-03-10 08:17:25

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#234 2007-03-10 08:25:38

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#235 2007-03-10 08:51:58

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#236 2007-03-10 10:03:11

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#237 2007-03-10 13:27:54

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#238 2007-03-10 13:55:31

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#239 2007-03-10 14:40:55

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#240 2007-03-18 05:29:58

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#241 2007-03-19 03:12:03

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#242 2007-03-19 18:04:09

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#243 2007-03-19 18:12:32

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#244 2007-03-20 11:29:52

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#245 2007-03-20 18:09:19

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#246 2007-03-20 19:27:29

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#247 2007-03-20 21:37:42

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#248 2007-03-21 02:54:24

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#249 2007-03-21 03:54:50

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

#250 2007-03-21 04:56:38

Re: Falcon 1 & Falcon 9

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