SpaceX Test-Fires Falcon 9 Rocket Before Monday Launch
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) has been known to push the boundaries of innovation and now it is making the necessary preparations for the launch of a commercial communications satellite on Monday evening.
The aerospace company has announced that it test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday at Launch Pad 39A — the same launch pad at the John F. Kennedy Space Center used by the Apollo program. SpaceX signed a 20-year lease for the pad back in 2014. According to SpaceFlight Insider, SpaceX tested the rocket at 12:45 p.m. ET
The launch window for the Inmarsat 5 F4 satellite will open at 7:20 p.m. ET on Monday, May 15, and it closes 50 minutes later. Unlike SpaceX's other recent liftoffs, an expendable version of the Falcon 9 will be used on Monday because the rocket will not attempt a landing. Therefore, it doesn't have landing legs or grid fins.
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"The reason for this is because the Inmarsat satellite weighs more than 13,000 pounds (5,900 kilograms) and will require as much energy as the rocket can give to loft it into a geostationary transfer orbit," Derek Richardson of SpaceFlight Insider said in his piece.
In other news, SpaceX also conducted the first static-fire engine test for the Falcon Heavy's center core earlier this week. The Falcon Heavy is a three-core super heavy lift design to someday carry probes and people to Mars.
"The Falcon Heavy will be able to transport either a payload of 140,000 pounds into Earth's orbit, or carry 37,000 pounds to Mars," Richard Tyr Blewitt said in his report for Neowin.
"This indeed will also be the rocket that is scheduled to take two tourists around the moon next year, and is also set to go to Mars in 2020," he added.
Perhaps commercial space travel will soon become a reality as SpaceX continues to move forward in leaps and bounds.
