\n : <\/em>Post Launch Attempt \u2013 Reaction Page<\/em> \u2013 64,000+ views in total.
\n: Elon Musk Interview Part 1<\/em><\/p>\n
NASASpaceflight.com: Will you be upgrading the LOX plant on Omelek? It has been causing you lots of headaches.<\/em><\/p>\n Elon Musk: We do plan on actually installing a much larger state-of-the-art LOX plant for Falcon 9 sometimes next year, but we\u2019re not planning on upgrading our little LOX plant on Kwajalein right now. It is a bit of a clunker. It is fine for use in emergency situations, but it\u2019s not really capable of continuous LOX production without a lot of care and feeding.<\/p>\n So we are actually going to transfer our LOX from Hawaii, and we acquired some additional LOX storage containers so that we have additional launch liquid oxygen.<\/p>\n We are looking forward to a heavy duty seven and a half ton per day LOX plant; a 2006 model type thing, which we will install probably next year.<\/p>\n NASASpaceflight.com: Omelek would seem like it would need more infrastructure to handle the Falcon 9. Do you need to add a new dock? I guess there is probably a lot that needs to be done on the island to support the Falcon 9?<\/em><\/p>\n Rocket building kits (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n Elon Musk: Not as much as you might think. We need to put in a much bigger hanger. Increase the amount of fuel, LOX, and pressurant that is stored on the island. But there\u2019s no major upgrades required; we don\u2019t need a new dock or anything like that.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve already done the layout of Falcon 9 on Omelek. There is sort of a peninsula on the island; it will be part of the peninsula, and it actually works out pretty well.<\/p>\n We\u2019re going through the final preparations for submitting our environmental approval for Falcon 9, and we\u2019ll probably submit those in the next month or so. I\u2019d like to complete the Falcon 9 launch system on Omelek by the end of next year.<\/p>\n An aerial view of Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll, where every Falcon 1 launched from. Omelek was to be expanded to support initial Falcon 9 flights, but the idea was later shelved. Credit: SpaceX<\/p>\n NASASpaceflight.com: How have things been progressing on the Falcon 9, and when could we expect a test firing? I understand towards the end of this year, from your last update.<\/em><\/p>\n Elon Musk: Yes, if not at the end of this year, then very early next. We expect to have everything on the Falcon 9 first stage except the engines done in about three months. The first stage is the far more challenging stage of the vehicle.<\/p>\n Everything except the engines should be done in about three months. We have five of the nine engines that are ready to go, and then another four which are in a production cycle.<\/p>\n NASASpaceflight.com: Are these the Merlin 1B with the better turbo-pump, or are these the 1A engines?<\/em><\/p>\n Elon Musk: There are three versions of Merlin. The Merlin 1A is the basic Merlin which is on the Falcon 1, with the ablative chamber, and that is about a 72,000 lb sea-level thrust engine.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the Merlin 1B, which is upgraded in thrust, and upgraded turbopump, upgraded main valve \u2013 a number of improvements all around \u2013 but still an ablative chamber. That\u2019s actually not something that is going to fly. That is an interim engine. In fact we may or may not fire those engines, depending upon the progress of the Merlin 1C.<\/p>\n So the Merlin 1C is the engine that is headed for Falcon 9, and it is a fully regen engine. So it has a copper milled copper chamber attached to a brazed tube wall nozzle chamber.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/main-qimg-39019ecc78a1b34ec6abe30990596c7a.jpg\")
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