SpaceX seeks to fly unproven rocket, put engine issue to rest

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  An unproven Falcon 9 rocket stands on a Florida launch pad Thursday afternoon. [credit: Trevor Mahlmann for Ars ]

SpaceX has not launched a brand-new rocket since June, when it boosted a GPS III satellite for the US Space Force on a Falcon 9 rocket. Since that time the company has launched several commercial missions and its own Starlink satellites on a variety of previously flown rockets, and they were all successful.

However, when the company tried to launch a new Falcon 9 first stage on October 2—this was for yet another GPS satellite, named GPS III-04—the attempt was scrubbed at T-2 seconds. Later, SpaceX's Hans Koenigsmann explained that two of the rocket's nine first-stage engines ignited early during the early October launch attempt, and this triggered an automatic abort of the engines.

This problem was eventually traced to a tiny bit of lacquer used during a metal-treatment process that was supposed to be removed before flight but was not. Now the company believes it has addressed the problem, which is a good thing because the company has three important missions coming up for the US government, all slated to fly on new rockets.

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