CEO Elon Musk on Thursday said the company was “aiming” to test-fire a Falcon 9’s main engines on Wednesday at Launch Complex 40, then launch “about three days later.”
The potential Dec. 19 launch would be SpaceX’s first since a Falcon 9 broke apart about two minutes into a June 28 launch of International Space Station cargo, a failure blamed so far on a strut in the rocket’s upper-stage oxidizer tank.
Orbcomm Inc., whose 11 OG2 satellites will ride to low Earth orbit on the upcoming launch, said the liftoff would occur between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Orbcomm CEO Marc Eisenberg on Wednesday reported that the satellites were fueled, attached to their dispensers and waiting for SpaceX to confirm a launch date.
Aiming for Falcon rocket static fire at Cape Canaveral on the 16th and launch about three days later— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2015
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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