SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch now scheduled for this MONDAY [UPDATED]

 

 Update 2 (7:15pm ET): Looks like we’re a go for Sunday! Elon Musk just tweeted the following: “Static fire test looks good. Pending data review, will aim to launch Sunday.”
Update 1 (12:42pm ET): NASAspaceflight.com says Orbcomm confirmed SpaceX would try to conduct the static fire again today, and that the current window for launch has been moved to Sunday for now. The original story continues below.
It’s suddenly not looking so good for SpaceX this weekend. The company was planning to launch its newly upgraded Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday for the first time since June, when the prior version exploded shortly after liftoff on its way to a resupply mission for the International Space Station, but a series of tweets from CEO Elon Musk last night seem to have put the Saturday launch into question.
Back in June, the rocket failed only a few minutes after launch, after an internal support strut in the upper stage gave way under 2,000 pounds of force, even though it was supposed to withstand five times that amount. This caused the helium pressure vessel to break loose and release gas into the liquid oxygen tank, increasing the pressure inside and causing the tank to explode, taking the entire rocket with it.

Last Friday, the company posted the following update, which is still the last news item on the site:
“SpaceX is currently aiming for a December 16 static fire of the Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral, Florida in advance of the upcoming ORBCOMM-2 launch. The launch of 11 next-generation OG2 satellites is part of ORBCOMM’s second and final OG2 Mission at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The static fire will verify the readiness of the Falcon 9 rocket and once completed, ORBCOMM’S second OG2 Mission is targeted to launch about three days later between 8pm and 9pm ET.”
Things seem to have gone slightly differently. On Wednesday, the Falcon 9 rolled out of the hanger and was brought vertical at the SLC-40 launch pad at Cape Canaveral (pictured, top). The static fire was supposed to then take place last night instead (Thursday), but it seems like there were some unexpected issues.
“Working towards static fire,” Musk said on Twitter. “Deep cryo liquid oxygen presenting some challenges.”
In response to a tweet about the temperature being -298 degrees F — a usual point for loading liquid oxygen into rocket tanks — Musk said “-340 F in this case. Deep cryo increases density and amplifies rocket performance. First time anyone has gone this low for O2.” Later, he said to another Twitter user, “it worked in Texas,” referring to SpaceX’s testing facility in that state. After that, there haven’t been any updates about the static fire actually taking place.

SpaceX Dragon V2 interior

Whenever the Falcon 9 launch takes place — Saturday is now looking unlikely, although we’ll see — in addition to the new support struts, the upgraded rocket also packs more maximum thrust. That means it has a better chance of a successful first stage landing, though it’s not clear if SpaceX will attempt another landing this time around. The company has gotten agonizingly close to pulling it off several times, but hasn’t quite hit the target. A vertical landing of a spent rocket means the company can reuse it instead of destroying it.
SpaceX plans to use Falcon 9 to launch 11 satellites into orbit for the company Orbcomm. SpaceX is also developing its manned Dragon v2 capsule, and is emphasizing a newly designed emergency abort system that could potentially save the lives of astronauts in case of another catastrophic failure. That abort system passed a major test back in May. Last month, Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezos-backed private space firm, did successfully land its own reusable rocket after sending it into space, although that rocket is just a booster and not a complete vehicle, and it’s not going all the way into orbit (yet), either.
A representative from SpaceX could not be immediately reached for comment.