Payload included six satellites weighing 172 kg (379 lb) each and two 142 kg (313 lb) mass simulators. This flight also launched the ELaNa 5 mission for NASA as a secondary payload. This was the first Falcon 9 booster to fly with extensible landing legs and the first Dragon mission with the Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle. Following the soft touchdown, the first stage tipped over as expected and was destroyed. Dragon mass)įollowing second-stage separation, SpaceX conducted a second controlled-descent test of the discarded booster vehicle and achieved the first successful controlled ocean touchdown of a liquid-rocket-engine orbital booster. Thaicom-6 was inserted into a supersynchronous transfer orbit of 90,039 km (55,948 mi) in apogee with an inclination of 22.46° to the equator.Ģ,296 kg (5,062 lb) (excl. The USAF evaluated launch data from this flight as part of a separate certification program for SpaceX to qualify to fly military payloads, but found that the launch had "unacceptable fuel reserves at engine cutoff of the stage 2 second burnoff". The Thai communication satellite was the second GTO launch for Falcon 9. With six launches, SpaceX became the second most prolific American company in terms of 2014 launches, behind Atlas V launch vehicle. SES-8 was inserted into a supersynchronous transfer orbit of 79,341 km (49,300 mi) in apogee with an inclination of 20.55° to the equator. ( more details)įirst geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) launch for Falcon 9, and first successful reignition of the second stage. This was the first known attempt of a rocket engine being lit to perform a supersonic retro propulsion, and allowed SpaceX to enter a public-private partnership with NASA and its Mars entry, descent, and landing technologies research projects. This provided good test data, even though the booster started rolling as it neared the ocean, leading to the shutdown of the central engine as the roll depleted it of fuel, resulting in a hard impact with the ocean. After separation from the second stage carrying Canadian commercial and scientific satellites, the first stage booster performed a controlled reentry, and an ocean touchdown test for the first time. įirst commercial mission with a private customer, first launch from Vandenberg, and demonstration flight of Falcon 9 v1.1 with an improved 13-tonne to LEO capacity. Last launch of the original Falcon 9 v1.0 launch vehicle, first use of the unpressurized trunk section of Dragon. NASA stated that this was because SpaceX could not guarantee a high enough likelihood of the second stage completing the second burn successfully which was required to avoid any risk of secondary payload's collision with the ISS. This was due to one of the nine Merlin engines shutting down during the launch, and NASA declining a second reignition, as per ISS visiting vehicle safety rules, the primary payload owner is contractually allowed to decline a second reignition. ( more details)ĬRS-1 was successful, but the secondary payload was inserted into an abnormally low orbit and subsequently lost. Two days later, it became the first commercial spacecraft to board the ISS. The Dragon spacecraft demonstrated a series of tests before it was allowed to approach the International Space Station. SpaceX cut off the end of the nozzle and got NASA's approval to fly in this configuration. Before the launch, SpaceX discovered that there was a crack in the nozzle of the 2nd stage's Merlin vacuum engine. ( more details) It also included eight CubeSats, and a wheel of Brouère cheese. Attempted to recover the first stage by parachuting it into the ocean, but it disintegrated upon reentry, again before the parachutes were deployed. Maiden flight of SpaceX's Dragon capsule, consisting of over 3 hours of testing thruster maneuvering and then reentry.
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