Skip to main content

SpaceX eyeing December 16 launch, its first since September explosion

spacex looks like its going to fire up rocket program again a little later than expected falcon9launch1
SpaceX
After a severe setback in September when one of its rockets exploded on the launchpad, SpaceX may be just a couple of weeks from resuming its space missions.

Satellite manufacturer Iridium Communications said on Thursday that it plans to launch 10 satellites via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on December 16. The mission is subject to approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is currently studying SpaceX’s findings on the September 1 explosion.

Recommended Videos

If the launch is green-lighted, it would be a major boost for the SpaceX team, which at one point was wondering if its rockets might be grounded for up to a whole year.

“Really surprising problem”

September’s fiery incident was put down to a fueling issue that SpaceX CEO recently described as a “really surprising problem that’s never been encountered before in the history of rocketry.” Musk added that solving it had been the company’s biggest challenge since its founding in 2002.

In an interview on NBC broadcast last month, the CEO said it appeared that liquid oxygen froze as it was flowing into the second stage tank, with the unexpected occurrence leading to the catastrophic failure.

The explosion resulted in the loss of not only a Falcon 9 rocket but also a $200-million Israeli satellite that Facebook was planning to use for its ongoing work to bring internet connectivity to remote parts of the world.

With contracts for future missions to ferry supplies to the International Space Station and take satellites into space, as well as far bolder goals that involve trips into deep space and even helping to build a city on Mars, SpaceX certainly can’t afford too many more failures like the one it suffered three months ago.

But before anything happens, we’ll have to wait and see if the FAA gives the go ahead for the proposed December 16 launch. If it does, it’ll be a very welcome early Christmas present for Musk and his SpaceX team.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Check out this cool NASA image of SpaceX Crew-3’s ride home
A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked at the ISS.

A stunning image shared by NASA shows the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft at the International Space Station (ISS) just a few days before it brings home the Crew-3 astronauts.

Crew Dragon Endurance docked at the International Space Station about 250 miles above Earth. NASA

Read more
NASA footage shows SpaceX Crew-4 training for ISS mission
SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts.

NASA has shared raw footage of SpaceX’s Crew-4 astronauts training for their space station mission that’s set to get underway in just a few days' time.

The 30-minute reel (below) shows NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, along with Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, undergoing a range of training techniques to prepare them for the ride to and from the International Space Station (ISS), as well as their six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Read more
Watch the key moments from SpaceX’s spy satellite launch
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket heading to space.

SpaceX successfully launched a spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) on the morning of Sunday, April 17.

The NROL-85 mission launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 6:13 a.m. PT (9:13 a.m. ET).

Read more