SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket to Attempt Recycling Test Again
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SpaceX(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) — SpaceX will try again with its historic rocket recycling test on Tuesday when it attempts to land a rocket booster on a barge — a feat that founder Elon Musk has said would make space travel more affordable to the masses.
With less than three minutes left on the countdown clock, the private space company scrubbed its launch of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) on Sunday.
Musk said in a tweet that the launch was called off due to a problem with the U.S. Air Force’s tracking radar.
The climate satellite is a joint project of NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Air Force. SpaceX has contracted to launch it into space using its Falcon 9 rocket.
An attempt was rescheduled for Monday, however NASA reported the launch has now been pushed back to Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. ET at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
It will be the second rocket recycling attempt for SpaceX, coming one month after an attempt ended in a spectacular fireball, with the booster making a hard landing on the barge.
If all goes according to plan, shortly after liftoff, the rocket is set to detach from the payload and begin a controlled descent to Earth, with the goal of executing a pinpoint landing on a barge off the coast of Florida.
Musk is intent on making the rocket recycling test work and has said he believes it will “revolutionize access to space.”
“If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred,” he said.
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