SpaceX has said that it plans to return to launching Falcon 9 rockets in early January, just four months after a mission exploded on the launchpad.
The rocket startup said in a statement that it was wrapping up its investigation into the incident on Sept. 1 and were giving themselves until January to make the changes necessary to get the Falcon 9 back off the ground.
“We are finalizing the investigation into our Sept. 1 anomaly and are working to complete the final steps necessary to safely and reliably return to flight, now in early January with the launch of Iridium-1. This allows for additional time to close-out vehicle preparations and complete extended testing to help ensure the highest possible level of mission assurance prior to launch,” SpaceX said.
The next launch is for ten Iridium telecoms satellites, a big payload for SpaceX in more ways than one, and the firm will want to ensure that all systems are go for the mission. These are the first of 72 satellites that Iridium and SpaceX are sending into space together, completely replacing the company’s satellite constellation in a $492 million contract.
Iridium had said last week that the launch could happen as soon as Dec. 16, but SpaceX has now walked that back to early January, with no firm date for launch.
The Falcon 9 was on the launchpad on Sept. 1 when it exploded while its second stage was being filled up with super-cold liquid oxygen. SpaceX previously said that it had traced the problem back to the second stage helium tank and it believed that it could fix the issue by changing the way it loaded up the fuel. If the firm only has to change its procedures, that would obviously be a much quicker and easier fix than any hardware update to the rocket.
But to get back into the air, SpaceX will not only need to be sure of the safety of its rockets itself, it will also need to persuade the Federal Aviation Authority that everything has been done to fix the anomaly in order to get a license to launch.
For its part, Iridium has said it supports SpaceX’ decision to extend the launch date into early January.
“We remain as confident as ever in their ability to safely deliver our satellites into low Earth orbit,” the company said.
The delay is likely to mean that Iridium’s new constellation won’t be fully running until 2018 at the earliest, later than the company’s target of end-2017. The second batch of satellites are due to go up around three months after the first and then launches will be as quickly as every two months until the full constellation is in place.
For SpaceX, a return to launches means a return to its reusable rocket programme. The firm is hoping to land the first stage of the booster used to launch the Iridium payload on its seagoing landing pad. If it makes it back, that will be the seventh rocket that the company has managed to recover.
