SpaceX Almost Ready for Launch
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the Hawthorne-based developer of low-cost rockets, said Thursday that it had successfully conducted the final test before launch of the Falcon 1 rocket.
Dubbed SpaceX, the firm completed a full launch dress rehearsal and hold down firing of the Falcon 1 Flight 3 vehicle Wednesday at the Omelek Island launch site at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
In the coming weeks, SpaceX will conduct a thorough review of all data prior to the opening of the launch window for flight, which runs from late July through early September.
The Falcon 1 will carry the Trailblazer satellite for the Department of Defense and secondary payloads that include two small NASA satellites.