An engine was also replaced on B1063, as well as two engines on B1061.
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Koenigsmann described the substance as “sort of like nail polish.” The issue affects only some of the recently produced Merlin engines.Īs a result of the investigation, the two engines on B1062 which encountered the issue during the abort have been replaced for the next launch attempt. The investigation found that a relief valve was being blocked by leftover masking material from the engine’s production process. An automatic abort prevented a hard start, which could have damaged the engines.īoth engines were shipped to SpaceX’s facility in McGregor, Texas for testing. During the abort on 2 October, an early start occurred on two of the Merlin 1D engines on the first stage. Hans Koenigsmann, Vice President of Build and Flight Reliability for SpaceX, described the issue in further detail during a Crew-1 mission briefing. NASA was heavily involved in the investigation as the launch customer for both Crew-1 and Sentinel-6, as well as the upcoming CRS-21 mission. Other boosters affected included B1061, the first stage supporting the upcoming Crew-1 mission, and B1063, which has been assigned to launch the Sentinel-6 satellite from Vandenberg, California. SpaceX’s investigation revealed an issue affecting multiple first stage engines on several new Falcon 9 boosters. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described the cause of the T- 2 second abort as an “unexpected rise in the turbomachinery gas generator.” See Also The stage originally completed a successful static fire test at SLC-40 on 25 September ahead of the aborted launch attempt on 2 October. The first stage supporting this mission is B1062, a brand new Falcon 9 core.
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NROL-101 scrubbed on Wednesday due to an issue with ground system liquid oxygen valves. The eastern range is coordinating both this launch and an Atlas V with the NROL-101 mission. Tree, remains in Port Canaveral undergoing maintenance. With only one ship supporting this launch, at least one fairing half will be recovered after splashdown, rather than caught. Chief, departed Port Canaveral on 3 November and is also positioned downrange. One of SpaceX’s fairing recovery ships, GO Ms. The drone ship departed Port Canaveral on 31 October 31 and was stationed 635 kilometers downrange, to the northeast of Florida.įalcon 9 leaps off the pad to deliver GPS III into orbit. Following the initial ascent, the Falcon 9 first stage landed on Of Course I Still Love You, one of SpaceX’s Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ships stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The mission launched from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
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The resulting investigation identified an issue within the gas generators on some first stage engines and prompted several engine swaps across the Falcon 9 fleet and affected multiple upcoming launches. The launch followed a scrub on 2 October, when Falcon 9 aborted two seconds before liftoff. SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 mission with the fourth GPSII satellite at 18:24 EST (23:24 UTC) on Thursday, 5 November.