SpaceX plans return to flight with January 8 launch after explosion
Space Exploration Technologies is slated to launch several Iridium communications satellites January 8 from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s central coast, marking the company’s first return to flight since a September 1 fireball destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket on a Florida launch pad.An accident investigation team "concluded that one of the three composite over-wrapped pressure vessels inside the second stage liquid oxygen tank failed," SpaceX said Monday in a statement on its website. The September failure was likely because of an oxygen buildup or a void in the buckle in the liner of the vessel, the company said.The announcement of a launch date means that the US Federal Aviation Administration has accepted SpaceX’s investigation report regarding the September 1 mishap, which founder Elon Musk has called the company’s most perplexing failure in 14 years. The blast occurred during a test firing of the rocket’s engines, destroying a Falcon 9 rocket and Amos-6, an Israeli commu...
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