Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) recently conducted a hot fire test of its liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1)-powered Merlin engine ahead of a fourth attempt of the launch of the low Earth orbit Falcon rocket.
The test (a video of which has been obtained by Flight) took place at the Falcon 1 launch site on the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site on Omelek Island near Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean’s US Marshall Islands.
The tests follow several failed launches for the Falcon 1, including some attributed to the two-stage Merlin engine. The 570kg (1,250lb) Falcon, which is carrying a US Air Force satellite, would be powered by a single Merlin engine.
In addition SpaceX is conducting another rocket systems review with US Air Force, the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency and NASA this month.
Its next test is expected around 13 March and the latest tentative launch window for the maiden flight is 20-25 March.
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Watch SpaceX's video showing a hot fire test, at Kwajalein Atol in the Pacific, of its Merlin-powered Falcon rocket.
Source: Flight International
