When SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says he’ll never give up on getting Falcon 1 (pictured above on the launchpad on Omelek Island) into orbit, he means it. According to Wired, Flight 4 is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 23, between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. PDT. However, on the SpaceX website, Musk says it’s possible that it may have to be delayed until the next launch window in October. Either way, you can keep an eye on the situation and watch a webcast of the launch at SpaceX.com. (UPDATE: A post on the SpaceX website on 9/23 says that the updated launch window estimate is now Sept 28th through Oct 1st).
As for Flight 3, here’s the skinny:
On August 2nd, Falcon 1 executed a picture perfect first stage flight, ultimately reaching an altitude of 217 km, but encountered a problem just after stage separation that prevented the second stage from reaching orbit.
Below is a video of that flight. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the fourth time is the charm.
