Over past few months, SpaceX, along with officials of Federal Aviation Administration(FAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA), U.S. Air Force, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and various other safety agencies had been engrossed in unveiling the mystery explosion of Falcon 9 on the launch pad itself, on September 1.
The SpaceX’s facilities in Hawthorne, CA and McGregor, TX were used for the conduction of tests and luckily, the reason of the Cape Canaveral launchpad explosion is now known. What’s more, after a painstaking few months, SpaceX is finally ready to take wings again.
Elon Musk, CEO SpaceX, had previously accepted that this has been the most challenging investigation in the history of the company. The tests were being conducted to confirm the reason of the explosion of Falcon 9 rocket on the launchpad during the pre-fueling session. The investigators have determined that the failure occurred in a pressure vessel present inside a tank used for storing liquid oxygen for the rocket’s second stage fuel burn.
The complex interactions between various variables such as temperature and pressure resulted in a misalignment, causing a breach in Helium vessel, resulting in explosion. The supercooled fueling particles resulted in the formation of solid oxygen which related with the carbon fibers running around Helium vessel, causing ignition. SpaceX confirmed that they will take steps to avoid such problems in both short and long run and are positive to be able to ascertain a safe fueling technique as soon as possible.
With the investigation finally reaching its conclusion, SpaceX is positive to return back to the launch pad on January 8, this time for its client Iridium. SpaceX would be using Falcon 9 rockets to export 10 of Iridium’s telecommunication satellites into the orbit. Reports confirm that the Falcon 9 transport capsules have already been loaded with Iridium satellites.
Well, if this launch window is successfully obtained and the rockets deployed, it would be a great confidence booster for SpaceX. Their return would be historic after the September mishap, and would improve the company’s reputation among its clients.
