SpaceX Delays AsiaSat 6 Launch

Falcon 9 on the launch pad. Photo: SpaceX

[Via Satellite 08-27-2014] SpaceX has decided to reschedule the launch of AsiaSat 6, previously slated for today, in order to review all potential failure modes and contingencies. The company expects the inspection will take one to two weeks to complete.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, said that while the most likely outcome is no change, the company will provide as much detail as is allowed by U.S. law should any be deemed necessary. SpaceX will use the review process to triple check the Falcon 9 to ensure optimal fault detection and recovery logic for “even highly improbably corner case scenarios.”

“The natural question is whether this is related to the test vehicle malfunction at our development facility in Texas last week. After a thorough review, we are confident that there is no direct link. Had the same blocked sensor port problem occurred with an operational Falcon 9, it would have been outvoted by several other sensors. That voting system was not present on the test vehicle,” Musk said in a statement.