Final delivery included the Falcon 9 second stage, which recently completed testing at SpaceX’s test facility in McGregor, Texas. SpaceX has now initiated full vehicle integration of the 47 meter (154 feet) tall, 3.6 meter (12 feet) diameter rocket, which will include a Dragon spacecraft qualification unit.
“We expect to launch in one to three months after completing full vehicle integration,” said Brian Mosdell, Director of Florida Launch Operations for SpaceX. “Our primary objective is a successful first launch and we are taking whatever time necessary to work through the data to our satisfaction before moving forward.”
Following full vehicle integration, SpaceX will conduct a static firing to demonstrate flight readiness and confirm operation of ground control systems in preparation for actual launch.
Though designed from the beginning to transport crew, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft will initially be used to transport cargo. Falcon 9 and Dragon were selected by NASA to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) once Shuttle retires. The $1.6B contract represents 12 flights for a minimum of 20 tons to and from the ISS with the first demonstration flights beginning in 2010.
Falcon 9 is a two stage, liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) powered launch vehicle. It uses the same engines, structural architecture (with a wider diameter), avionics and launch system.
Length: 54.9 m (180 ft)
Width: 3.6 m (12 ft)
Mass (LEO, 5.2m fairing): 333,400 kg (735,000 lb)
Mass (GTO, 5.2m fairing): 332,800 kg (733,800 lb)
Thrust (vacuum): 4.94 MN (1,110,000 lbf)
2010 NASA COTS – Demo 1 F9/Dragon NASA COTS – Demo 2 F9/Dragon NASA COTS – Demo 3 F9/Dragon Falcon 1e Inaugural Flight 2011 MDA Corp. (Canada) Falcon 9 NASA Resupply to ISS – Flight 1 F9/Dragon NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 2 F9/Dragon 2012 DragonLab Mission 1 F9/Dragon NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 3 F9/Dragon NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 4 F9/Dragon CONAE (Argentina) Falcon 9 Spacecom (Israel) Falcon 9 2013 DragonLab Mission 2 F9/Dragon NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 5 F9/Dragon NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 6 F9/Dragon NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 7 F9/Dragon CONAE (Argentina) Falcon 9 2014 NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 8 F9/Dragon NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 8 NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 9 NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 10 Astrium (Europe) Falcon 1e Bigelow Aerospace Falcon 9 2015 NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 11 F9/Dragon NASA Resupply to ISS – Flt 12 F9/Dragon
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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