SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2010
SpaceX Now Targeting Nov. 18 For First COTS Demo Flight
SpaceX has pushed back the target date for its first NASA demonstration flight by 10 days, to Nov. 18.
The planned launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station will be the first in a NASA program testing the vehicles' readiness to deliver cargo to the International Space Station.
Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX had been targeting Nov. 8 for the first mission under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, or COTS.
No reason was immediately given for the delay, which pushes the mission behind the next shuttle flight and the launch of a spy satellite by a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy. Those launches are targeted for Nov. 1 and Nov. 15, respectively.
Before the launch, SpaceX plans to test the rocket's nine first stage engines with a brief firing at Launch Complex 40. A new date for the static fire and a launch window were not immediately confirmed.
The window planned Nov. 8 ran from 9:30 a.m. to 12:52 p.m. The static fire was scheduled five days earlier.
The mission known as COTS-1 plans to orbit an operational Dragon vehicle for the first time, circling Earth one to three times before splashing down off the coast of Southern California.
NASA and SpaceX plan at least one or two more demonstration missions that will culminate in a Dragon docking at the space station. Then SpaceX will begin to execute a $1.6 billion contract awarded in December 2008 for 12 resupply flights.
IMAGE: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral on its maiden voyage on June 4, 2010. Photo Credit: Chris Thompson/SpaceX.
POSTED BY JAMES DEAN AT 5:02 PM
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