Despite suffering an unexpected and tragic accident on September 1, the aerospace transportation company SpaceX will go back to the launching pads as soon as November this year.
Following the sudden explosion of one of its Falcon 9 rockets during a testing session, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained in a series of tweets that the failed launch catastrophe remained a mystery. Moreover, the President of the company said earlier this week that SpaceX would resume operations and be back on testing in less than two months.
Details of the Falcon 9’s next flight are still unknown, but it will take place at a new facility in the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) rather than at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida where the accident happened.
Elon Musk and SpaceX still don’t know what went wrong
More than a week following the accident that destroyed one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets, the company’s CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to share some of his insights and information on the investigation process.
Contrary to past launching accidents, the efforts to find out what happened have not been fruitful. SpaceX was able to determine the cause of its last explosion shortly after it happened, citing an issue with the liquid oxygen tank and high levels of pressure.
This time, Elon Musk said that the Falcon 9 fireball investigation was “turning out to be the most challenging and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years.” He further added that they were looking into “a quieter bang sound a few seconds before the fireball goes off.”
The CEO pointed out that the issue was particularly complicated because the engines were not even running and that the accident happened during a routine operation. The bang sound seems to be the main lead and possibly the key to solving the mystery.
Musk urged the public, all the agencies involved and those broadcasting the launch to send all the footage available the company’s official report mail. The Tesla executive also said that he doesn’t rule out the chance of an external object interfering with the launch and causing the fireball explosion.
The President of the company Gwynne Shotwell stated on Tuesday that SpaceX would get back to flight “in the November timeframe” following this couple of months on the ground to figure out what caused the accident.
The melting Falcon 9 rocket destroyed the satellite it was carrying and part of the launching pad where it was stationed. SpaceX has yet to disclose the amount of the damages, but the Israel’s Space Communication satellite was reportedly worth $200 million.
Source: Reuters