- \n
- UPDATES: F9\/ORBCOMM Mission<\/li>\n
- SpaceX Missions Section<\/li>\n
- L2 SpaceX Section<\/li>\n
- Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Everything needs to be right to provide the vehicle and payload the best possible chance of a successful launch, given there are no second chances once the rocket rises off the pad.<\/p>\n
One of the primary elements to ensure the rocket is ready to go in a Falcon 9 flow is the Static Fire.<\/p>\n
Also known as the Hot Fire test, the effort relates to ensuring that the pad\u2019s fueling systems \u2013 and the launch vehicle \u2013 function properly in a fully operational environment, with numerous requirements to be successfully proven via such a test, such as the engine ignition and shut down commands, which have to operate as designed, and that the Merlin 1D engines perform properly during start-up.<\/p>\n
![\"Z587\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z587.jpg\")
Tasks also include a full propellant loading sequence, launch countdown operations, engine ignition operations and testing of the pad\u2019s high volume water deluge system.<\/p>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n
The Static Fire was set to take place on Thursday. However, the flow was delayed by \u201cweather\u201d surrounding the rocket\u2019s departure from the hanger on to the launch pad \u2013 per L2\u2032s coverage of the mission\u2019s flow to launch.<\/p>\n
The Static Test provides a dress rehearsal for the actual launch, with controllers first conducting a poll to allow for the loading of Falcon 9\u2032s RP-1 propellant with liquid oxygen oxidizer two hours and thirty five minutes before T-0.<\/p>\n
This was followed with fuel and Thrust Vector Control (TVC) bleeding on the second stage, performed at T-1 hour.<\/p>\n
At T-13 minutes, a final flight readiness poll was required, with a final hold point at T-11 minutes.<\/p>\n
![\"Z77\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z771.jpg\")
Per the countdown procedures, the tasks then entered the terminal count ten minutes before ignition, followed by the launch vehicle being transferred to internal power at four minutes and forty six seconds before T-0.<\/p>\nThe Flight Termination System (FTS), used to destroy the rocket in the event of a problem during an actual launch, was armed three minutes and eleven seconds before launch, and seven seconds later oxidizer topping was concluded.<\/p>\n
Pressurization of the propellant tanks followed, and while a Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) \u2013 which are no longer required for the Falcon 9 \u2013 would have concluded the test at around T-5 seconds, the Static Fire continued the count through to ignition.<\/p>\n
![\"Z7\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Z7.jpg\")
A short burst of the Merlin ID engines on the core stage of the F9 then took place \u2013 noted per L2 coverage as a few seconds prior to 15:30 local time \u2013 which allows for validation data to be gained on the health of the vehicle and pad systems.<\/p>\nWith the required engine and vehicle data collected, detanking operations follows for the rest of the day, followed by the lowering on to the Transporter Erector and rollback to the hanger.<\/p>\n
Sources note the test was successful, with a smooth flow to ignition \u2013 bar some initial weather constraints \u2013 with the firing also proving engineers have fixed the problem surrounding the rocket\u2019s helium pressurization system that scrubbed Static Fire last month.<\/p>\n
A Launch Readiness Review (LRR) is expected to still take place in the coming days, as much as there is no firm launch date following the decision \u2013 taken on Friday \u2013 not to press ahead with Sunday\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n
While there are Eastern Range considerations, due to a maintenance window that is about to begin, the latest delay was attributed to the payload \u2013 six ORBCOMM OG-2 satellites.<\/p>\n
![\"Z9\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Z91.jpg\")
\u201cORBCOMM\u2019s 6 OG2 satellites were re-encapsulated on Wednesday (ahead of) proceeding toward a static test fire of the rocket on Friday, June 13,\u201d noted the customer. Their previous issue with the satellites caused the initial delay of the launch to Sunday.<\/p>\n\u201cAll six satellites have completed additional testing and are functioning as expected. In an effort to be as cautious as possible, it was decided to perform further analysis to verify that the issue observed on one satellite during final integration has been fully addressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe additional time to complete this analysis required us to postpone the OG2 Mission 1 Launch. We are working with SpaceX to identify the next available launch opportunity, and we will update the schedule shortly.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of the time of the Static Fire, L2 information noted the latest NET (No Earlier Than) launch date is now June 20. However, it is not yet known if that target has received Range approval.<\/p>\n
(Images: SpaceX, NASA, Jacques van Oene\/Spacepatches.nl and via L2\u2032s Special Sections. L2 SpaceX section now includes thousands of unreleased images from all Dragon ISS missions \u2013 including CRS-3)<\/p>\n
(Click here: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/l2\/ \u2013 to view how you can support NSF and access the best space flight content on the entire internet).<\/p>\n
*Please remember to share this article on social media using the below options. You have a responsibility to promote space flight content to your friends and family via one simple click*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SpaceX has completed a key pre-launch objective with the Static Fire of their Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket at Cape Canaveral\u2019s SLC-40. However, the vehicle\u2019s mission has been delayed from its Sunday launch to a TBD (To Be Decided) target, after the customer noted they wished to conduct additional testing on their six ORBCOMM satellites. Falcon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[479,3842,316],"class_list":["post-39565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-falcon-9","tag-orbcomm","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39565"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}