SpaceX targets Feb. 18 launch, landing in Fla.USA Today Network
James Dean, Florida Today 9:34 p.m. ET Feb. 8, 2017
On July 18, 2016, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched an International Space Station resupply mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, then landed the rocket's first-stage booster back on land near the launch site.
(Photo: SpaceX)CAPE CANAVERAL — SpaceX could attract a holiday weekend crowd for its first launch from Kennedy Space Center, now targeted for Feb. 18, at the start of Presidents Day weekend.
Liftoff from historic pad 39A of a Falcon 9 rocket and unmanned Dragon capsule carrying International Space Station supplies would be expected just before 10 a.m. ET.
The company could complete a critical pre-launch test known as a "static fire" as soon as this Thursday evening.
If systems are ready, the launch team plans to run through a practice countdown, fueling the Falcon 9 and holding it down for a brief firing of nine Merlin main engines.
The test aims to verify that the rocket and newly installed systems at the pad are ready for launch.
Originally designed for launches of Saturn V moon rockets, pad 39A has not hosted a launch since the last space shuttle blasted off in 2011.
SpaceX has installed new equipment for rolling Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets horizontally up the pad on rails and lifting them vertical, and new fueling systems.
It was during a similar static fire test last Sept. 1 that a Falcon 9 blew up on its Launch Complex 40 pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. An investigation blamed fueling procedures that caused a breach in a helium pressure tank.
SpaceX on Jan. 14 returned the Falcon 9 to flight in California, and is eager to resume flights from Florida to relieve its backlog of missions.
Less than 10 minutes after launching the Dragon, SpaceX will attempt to land the Falcon 9 booster at "Landing Zone 1," miles south of the launch site near the tip of Cape Canaveral.
SpaceX has previously landed two boosters at the site in as many tries, both nighttime events that wowed spectators and startled some with loud sonic booms.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2017/02/08/spacex-targets-feb-18-launch-landing-fla/97672692/
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