SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, Calif., is now targeting late April for the possible launch of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule from here to the space station, which has been without a U.S.-based supply line since the shuttles were retired in the summer.
A senior NASA official last week said the launch appeared to be on track for early April.
But SpaceX’s latest planning date is April 20, the company confirmed Friday.
“The primary driver for the schedule continues to be the need to conduct extensive software testing,” so the spacecraft can be controlled accurately, SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Grantham said in a statement. “This is a challenging mission, and we intend to take every necessary precaution in order to improve the likelihood of success.”
Even if SpaceX is ready in late April, it might not be possible to launch then because of other traffic to and from the station.
A Russian Progress resupply ship is scheduled to blast off April 20 from Kazakhstan, and three of the station’s six crew members are due to return home April 30.
NASA says the SpaceX demonstration mission could proceed with only three crew members on board the outpost though a full crew of six is preferred. Launch of the next station crew in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft is targeted for May 15.
The SpaceX mission is a second demonstration for a NASA program trying to prove the Dragon is ready to begin regular station resupply runs under a $1.6 billion contract.
The Dragon will attempt to approach the space station, hook up to a robotic arm and be pulled into a docking port, making it the first commercial vehicle to visit the outpost.
NASA last week identified numerous technical issues the company still is working on, including testing of the software that must control the Dragon’s flight even if systems experience multiple failures.
[ABC]
