Space X Falcon 9 Lifts Off!

A Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9 carrying the company’s Dragon capsule blasted off from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., this morning for the first test flight of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.

The rocket’s nine liquid oxygen and RP-1 kerosene-fueled Merlin engines roared to life at 10:43 a.m. EST, catapulting the 157.8-ft. rocket off the pad at Launch Complex 40 into clear skies over the Atlantic Ocean. Nine minutes later, the Falcon 9’s second stage, also a Merlin engine, shut down and separated from the Dragon capsule. The targeted position was a 300-km. (186-mi.) circular orbit inclined 34.5 deg.

SpaceX did not immediately confirm if Dragon reached its intended orbit. A webcast of the mission was cut off as the spacecraft reached orbit.

The capsule is expected to execute a preprogrammed series of maneuvers and system tests during two orbits, then perform a re-entry burn and splash down in the Pacific Ocean about 500 mi. off the coast of Mexico. Nominal mission duration is 3 hr. 19 min.

The company’s first launch attempt at 9:06 a.m. was halted 3 min. before liftoff due to a false abort on the ordnance interrupter ground feedback position. The problem was quickly fixed and SpaceX proceeded to the second of three available launch windows — dictated by the availability of NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system, which is supporting the mission.

READ MORE:    AviationWeek