SpaceX confirmed on Sunday that after replacing the two engines on the booster, the company successfully conducted a static ignition test on a Falcon 9 rocket, and is preparing to launch a third attempt to launch a US military GPS on November 5 satellite.
This satellite is called GPS III Space Vehicle 04 (SV04 for short). It is a dual-purpose navigation satellite for military and civilian use. It was originally planned to be launched on September 30. However, due to the delay of the priority launch mission of the United Launch Alliance (ULA), the first launch of SpaceX’s SV04 was also delayed.
SpaceX subsequently conducted a second launch attempt on October 2, but when the launch time was only 2 seconds, the Falcon 9 rocket automatically aborted the launch after detecting anomalous behavior and shut down all 9 Merlins. engine.
In the four weeks following that suspension, SpaceX conducted an extensive investigation, dismantled and tested the affected engine in Texas to replicate the problem observed on the launch pad, and finally found the cause and replaced the two. A new engine.
The Falcon 9 rocket booster B1062 underwent a static ignition test on October 31, further confirming that SpaceX has successfully solved the problem. The company stated that it is now ready for the third attempt to launch SV04, no earlier than 6:24 pm Eastern Time on November 5 (Thursday).
In preparation for the next attempt, SpaceX’s unmanned recovery vessel “Of Course I Still Love You” (Of Course I Still Love You) was towed away from Port Canaveral on October 31 to ensure that it arrived at Falcon on time Near the sea landing zone of No. 9 rocket B1062. The support ship Go Quest set off soon, but it remains to be seen whether the two fairing recovery ships will be ready to support the recovery mission of SV04.
At the same time, after returning the SV04 enclosed in the fairing of the Falcon 9 rocket to the Payload Processing Facility (PPF) for battery charging, the satellite and fairing were again sent from the PPF to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s LC-40 launch pad. After successful static ignition, the Falcon 9 rocket was returned to the LC-40 main engine library, where the packaged satellite was mounted on top of it in preparation for launch.
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