Source : NASA Space Flight
October 24, 2013 by Chris Bergin
Falcon 9 1.1 - Launch Late Sept 2013
Worlds first mid-flight re-ignite (see previous)
SpaceX provided another glimpse into their future ambitions by announcing they have completed a review of their 2014 abort test for their commercial crew program. The company also announced they would begin testing of their new Raptor engine – a key element of their Mars mission architecture – early year at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.
SpaceX Status:
Most of SpaceX’s current focus is on the upcoming salvo of missions, with the second launch of their upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 aiming to follow up the success of the Cassiope mission.
The launch vehicle – and its passenger, the SES-8 satellite – are both undergoing launch processing at SpaceX’s SLC-40 complex. However, the launch date has since slipped to a NET (No Earlier Than) November 22 launch date, per L2′s SpaceX section.
Efforts into the Upper Stage re-start investigation are ongoing, following its issue during the Cassiope mission. While the Canadian satellite was successfully deployed, a re-start of the stage was attempted as part of SpaceX’s fully-reusable launch vehicle aspirations.
The relevance to the SES-8 mission is the requirement to re-start the upper stage as part of the satellite’s mission profile. It is understood the stage re-starts without issue during ground testing, but may have a unique issue once in the cold vacuum of space.
With the delay to the SES-8 mission, the prospect of the next flight of the F9 v1.1 – carrying the Thaicom-6 satellite – occurring just one month later are all-but gone.
A separation of 30 days between launches is understood to be a hard limit, resulting in the Thaicom-6 mission having to avoid the holiday period and re-target for a launch in the new year.
All launch dates are subject to change, with the realigned target of November 22 for SES-8 a preliminary placeholder, subject to approval from the Eastern Range. Should approval be granted, the launch window will stretch from 13:28 to 15:28 local time, per L2.
Dragon Abort Test:
Following the SES-8 and Thaicom-6 missions, SpaceX will move into preparations for the fourth Dragon mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The CRS-3 (SpX-3) mission is tracking a February 11, 2014 NET – also subject to change based on the success of the preceding launches and the continually busy Visiting Vehicle (VV) schedule at the orbital outpost.
With an eye to the future, one where Dragons could be transporting NASA astronauts to the Station, as opposed to just cargo, SpaceX and NASA completed a review of a 2014 test of Dragon’s abort capabilities – a key element of allowing humans onboard their spacecraft.
Thus far, every Dragon has successfully returned home via current method of parachute landings into the Pacific Ocean. This will eventually be replaced by propulsive landings on terra firma.
With future Dragon spacecraft sporting a series of eight SuperDraco liquid engines – built into the side walls of the capsule – these thrusters will also provide an initial Launch Abort System (LAS) capability, by producing up to 120,000 pounds of axial thrust to drive the Dragon away from a failing launch vehicle.
Because the system is integrated with the Dragon – as opposed to a Tower system that normally requires jettison shortly after first stage flight – the spacecraft can technically abort within much longer periods.
In preparation for a summer 2014 test, SpaceX recently laid out its plan to demonstrate the Dragon spacecraft’s ability to abort in the event of an in-flight emergency.....
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