Clash with classified satellite flight will push back Falcon i debut to third quarter
Engine development problems have caused the maiden flight of Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) Falcon I low-cost launch vehicle to be delayed from March to the third quarter.
Difficulties with the composite ablative materials used to cool the combustion chamber and nozzle of the booster's SpaceX-developed Merlin main engine had led to the launch, from Vandenberg AFB's space launch complex (SLC) 3 West, being slipped from March into April.
But that date, and the proximity of the launch pad to the nearby SLC 4, meant a clash with the security surrounding the classified US government payload to be launched from SLC 4 on a Lockheed Martin Titan 4 – originally scheduled for June 30, but now expected in July.
"We are shut down now till at least July," says SpaceX. "But we are going to have a firing test with the fully integrated vehicle on the launch pad within the next four weeks."
The company says its customer for the first launch to low-Earth orbit – the US Department of Defense – requires two months for payload/vehicle integration at the launch site and is prepared for the delay. A July Titan launch will mean a September maiden flight for the Falcon.
ROB COPPINGER/LONDON
Source: Flight International
