SpaceX: Short Time Gap Caused Falcon 1 Failure
By Staff Writer | August 7, 2008
[Satellite Today 08-07-08] A gap of 1.5 seconds between engine shutdown and stage separation caused Falcon 1’s engines to fail, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) founder Elon Musk said in an Aug. 6 telephone conference.
The third attempt to launch SpaceX’s Falcon 1 rocket failed Aug. 2. The problem could have been “easily fixed” by increasing the timing between the two steps, and engineers did not detect the problem during testing because it was done at sea level, Musk said..
Another Falcon 1 launch attempt could as early as September, Musk said..