Space eXploration Technologies (SpaceX) fired-up the Falcon 9 engines in a test at Cape Canaveral Tuesday afternoon a key milestone in its quest to fly cargo -- and eventually astronauts -- to the International Space Station and beyond. But the nine Merlin 1C engines clustered at the bottom of the rocket's first stage ignited at 1:41 p.m., but it did not appear the test-firing went the full 3.5 seconds as intended, observers say.
The aborted test-firing of the Falcon 9 is considered a major milestone to the inaugural launch of the Falcon 9, which now is scheduled for March 22 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. There has been official word from SpaceX on the hot fire anomaly. The hot fire test is expected to be conducted again late this week or next.
SpaceX shares NASA's commercial rocket development and cargo delivery services with Virginia-based Orbital Science Corporation, which plans to debut its Taurus II rocket and Cygnus spacecraft before April 2011 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, VA.
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