SpaceX will plan to land its rocket since June 28 where the last rocket exploded at the attempt of trying to reach the International Space Station. Tomorrow, the Falcon 9 v1.1 will launch into lower Earth orbit carrying 11 ORBCOMM communications satellites, that was scheduled earlier this month.
The newly upgraded rocket will launch today at 8:20 P.M. EST from Cape Canaveral, Florida where the rocket will feature new engines, new payload fairing and stretched fuel tanks. This increase in size of fuel tanks can now allow the first stage of the rocket to attempt a recovery landing without running out of fuel.
This launch was originally scheduled for December 19, Saturday, however the Hawthorne, California based space company encountered some technical difficulties with a static fire test, where it involves the separated rocket engine being restrained while dissipating the exhaust into the atmosphere.
Apparently, the Falcon 9 rocket encountered some issues while it was restrained vertically on the pad involving its cryogenic liquid oxygen systems. According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, there will be a cooling of its liquid oxygen oxidizer to -206 degrees Celsius into a "deep cryo" state. This cooling past its -183 degrees Celsius boiling point will help the liquid oxygen increase oxidizer density and will hopefully improve overall performance.
The launch tonight will mark SpaceX's first attempt to land the first stage of Falcon 9 back to Earth. Prior attempts and landings were conducted on a floating autonomous barge near the launch site. This floating barge was seen in transit last Wednesday however, the private space company still did not confirm whether or not it was related to the launch today. SpaceX officials nor Federal Aviation Administration neither confirmed this landing attempt however Kennedy Space Center workers received an email about detailed access exclusions for today's launch.
The email reportedly included that SpaceX may attempt a landing of the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage at the Space Launch Complex 13 in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. If there would be an anomaly, personel are to seek shelter and avoid glass windows and doors.
This launch is crucial for SpaceX to win that contract with NASA to launch astronauts to the moon and eventually Mars, with Boeing as a direct competitor. NASA ordered a commercial flight from both private space companies however, NASA relied on Boeing earlier this month for a second mission. SpaceX's last attempt ended in a fiery explosion when a structural strut failed located in the rocket's upper stage.