SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 conducts first
Hot Fire at SLC-40
SpaceX have conducted the first Wet
Dress Rehearsal (WDR) and Hot Fire
(Static Fire) test of their upgraded
Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle at their
Florida launch site. The rocket is still
targeting a November 25 launch
date, tasked with lofting the SES-8
satellite from SLC-40 into a
geostationary transfer orbit, pending
one final review.
Falcon 9 v1.1 Florida Debut:
SpaceX are pressing towards the
second launch of their upgraded
rocket – following the successful
launch of the Cassiope spacecraft in
September
.
The launch date for the SES-8
mission will be officially set at the
upcoming Launch Readiness Review
(LRR). The current target remains
November 25, with the launch
window opening at 17:37 local time,
closing at 18:43.
The readiness to launch was boosted
by what is being classed as a
successful hot fire test, which also
combined – by nature of the
countdown tasks – the Wet Dress
Rehearsal (WDR) objectives.
Originally, a separate WDR, followed
by a standalone Hot Fire, was
planned. However, due to final work
on the pad upgrades to host the
larger F9 v1.1, SpaceX opted to
combine the tests into one
countdown.
The first attempt took place on
Wednesday. However, due to
unspecified issues during the
countdown, along with poor weather
at the Cape, the attempt was
scrubbed for the day.
The second attempt tracked a
window that opened at 2pm local
time, with tanking observed via a
single NASA webcam
that had been set up for the recent
launch of the MAVEN spacecraft atop
of an Atlas V from the next door
SLC-41
.
Per the primary goals of a Hot Fire
test, the effort relates to ensuring
that the pad’s fueling systems – and
the launch vehicle – function
properly in a fully operational
environment, with numerous
requirements to be successfully
proven via such a test, such as the
engine ignition and shut down
commands, which have to operate as
designed, and that the Merlin 1D
engines perform properly during
start-up
Tasks also include a successful full
propellant loading sequence, launch
countdown operations, engine
ignition operations and testing of
the pad’s high volume water deluge
system.
While details of this vehicle’s flow
have been few and far between, it is
likely the Falcon 9 v1.1′s Hot Fire
followed a similar path to that of its
predecessors.
With the test providing a dress
rehearsal for the actual launch,
controllers would have began the
test with polling to allow for the
loading of Falcon 9′s RP-1 propellant
with liquid oxygen oxidizer two
hours and thirty five minutes before
T-0.
This would have likely been followed
with fuel and thrust vector control
bleeding on the second stage,
performed at T-1 hour.
At T-13 minutes, a final flight
readiness poll would have been
conducted, which would then be
followed by the final hold point at
T-11 minutes.
Around this time, the routine
venting of the LOX from the vehicle
started to increase, to the point it
appeared as an off-nominal
condition. Cycling of the vent valve
reduced the venting for a short
period, prior to it increasing once
again. At this point the webcam was
turned off
.
Reasons for the increased venting
could relate to the high humidity
and strong winds in the local area
and/or an issues with the vehicle’s
associated Ground Support
Equipment (GSE), specifically LOX
ground pumps, per L2 information.
What is obvious is the large increase
in venting was not deemed to be an
issue for the continued press
towards the Hot Fire.
Per the countdown procedures, the
tasks would have entered the
terminal count ten minutes before
ignition, followed by the launch
vehicle being transferred to internal
power at four minutes and forty six
seconds before T-0. SpaceX
employees were shown to be
watching this critical part of the
countdown on an internally screened
webcast, per postings on Twitter.
The flight termination system, used
to destroy the rocket in the event of
a problem during an actual launch,
would have been armed three
minutes and eleven seconds before
launch, and seven seconds later
oxidizer topping ended.
Pressurization of the propellant
tanks would have followed, and
while a WDR countdown would
conclude at around T-5 seconds, the
adjoining of the static fire test
continued the count through to
ignition for a short burst to validate
the condition of the engine set.
Ignition took place around 4:30pm
local time, two and a half hours into
the test window, with a short burst
of the Merlin ID engines on the core
stage of the F9 that was without its
payload atop of the vehicle for the
test.
UPDATE: SpaceX later responded to
NASASpaceFlight.com, confirming the
test was successful and that the
extra venting was not a result of a
leak or a hardware issue.
Detanking operations would then
have followed, ahead of its lowering
on to the Transporter Erector and
rollback to the hanger to begin final
processing ahead of launch, which
will include the mating of the
payload fairing containing the SES-8
spacecraft.
The Launch Readiness Review (LRR)
is likely to be concluded in the next
day or two, allowing for the teams to
press forward with the opening
launch attempt on Monday.
This mission is tasked with lofting
the SES-8 satellite into a
geostationary orbit
, a mission profile that requires the
upper stage to restart for what will
be two required burns. SpaceX
recently completed modifications to
the Upper Stage to mitigate against
the re-start issue noted during the
Cassiope mission.
The SES- spacecraft is a hybrid Ku-
and Ka-band spacecraft – the sixth
GEOSTAR satellite ordered by SES
WORLD SKIES.
The satellite is based on Orbital’s
Enhanced GEOSTAR 2.4 bus, and will
carry 24 active Ku-band transponders
of 36 or 54 Mhz capacity, switchable
among 33 channels and two beams.
Certain channels in each beam are
cross-strapped to multiple frequency
bands, enabling flexibility for new
services. In the addition, the
spacecraft features a Ka-band
payload.
The spacecraft will generate
approximately five kilowatts of
payload power and will feature two
2.5 x 2.7 meter super elliptical
deployable reflectors and a 1.45
meter fixed, nadir antenna.
Pending the successful mission with
SES-8, SpaceX will then turnaround
their Cape facility for the next
Falcon 9 v1.1 launch, realigned to a
December 20 NET (No Earlier Than)
launch date. This places SpaceX into
a stance where they will be
launching two missions in the space
of less than a month – a first for the
company.
SpaceX recently confirmed to
NASASpaceFlight.com that they
remain on track to carry out both
missions in this timeframe
, despite the previous slip of SES-8
to November 25.
This mission will also be tasked with
lofting an Orbital-built satellite,
namely the Thaicom-6 spacecraft
. This will complete SpaceX’s missions
for the year, with 2014 opening with
another launch from Cape Canaveral,
this time with their next Dragon
mission to the International Space
Station (ISS)
.
CRS-3 (SpX-3) will result in the
Dragon taking its first ride uphill on
the upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1, with the
current launch date on the schedule
for February 11.
