Posted: Sun, Sep 21, 2008, 9:57 AM ET (1357 GMT)
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) may conduct its next Falcon 1 launch as early as September 23, pending final tests, the company announced late Friday. According to a company statement, the vehicle, carrying a dummy payload, is on the pad at the company's facility on Omelek Island, part of Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, with a launch window extending from Tuesday through Thursday. That launch date is pending last-minute tests, including a static engine firing that was scheduled for Saturday. The first three Falcon 1 launches all failed to place payloads into orbit; the most recent one, in early August, failed because of residual thrust from the first stage engine caused that stage to collide with the second stage after stage separation. That problem has been corrected by extending the delay between engine cutoff and stage separation, and SpaceX said that no other issues were found with that launch.

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