Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is spending more time than it originally envisioned to return to flight, which company CEO Gwynne Shotwell said Monday is a “couple of months” away.
Shotwell said SpaceX is taking the slow approach toward its first flight since its June 28 launch failure to thoroughly examine the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and its supply chain. Shotwell said by the time the company returns to flight, it will have been through a “pretty thorough, top down, single point” failure review, including every engineer having his or her work double-checked by a colleague.
“We haven’t changed our perspective on what caused the failure on June 28,” Shotwell told an audience at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) conference in Pasadena, Calif.
SpaceX blamed a faulty strut in a second stage liquid oxygen for the failed launch during a NASA mission to deliver cargo and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). It was the company’s first Falcon 9 launch failure in 19 flights (Defense Daily, July 20).
Shotwell also said the SpaceX’s return to flight would feature the first flight of the upgraded Falcon 9 rocket. Though she didn’t provide additional details on the upgraded rocket, Shotwell said the combination of the first flight after launch failure also serving as the first flight of the upgraded rocket has been “keeping her up at night.” Shotwell did not elaborate on the what parts of the Falcon 9 are being upgraded and SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment by press time Monday.