[Satellite TODAY 06-03-10] SpaceX is targeting a 4-hour window on June 4 for its first test launch attempt of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, with a back-up date June 5, the company confirmed. 

   SpaceX said the primary schedule driver for the test launch has been the U.S. Air Force certification of its flight termination system to ensure that Air Force Range safety officials can command the destruction of the vehicle if it strays from its designated flight path. The Falcon 9 test launch was originally scheduled to happen between March and May. In April, the launch was pushed back again to May 8 in order to account for the Air Force safety review.

   “The successful liftoff of the recent [Air Force Global Positioning System 2F-SV1] satellite launch last Thursday freed up the necessary range resources to process our final documentation, and we are now looking good for final approval of the FTS by this Friday,” SpaceX Spokeswoman Emily Shanklin said in a statement.

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