The integration of Falcon 9 continued steadily through the long Christmas holiday, and the images below show just how close Falcon 9 is to being completely integrated. Whether measured by weight or by cost, the majority of the Falcon 9 being assembled is actual flight hardware. If there are no unexpected delays, its possible Falcon 9 will be integrated before December 31st — certainly a great way to start off the New Year.
Falcon 9 is now fully integrated at the Cape! Today we mated the 5.2 m payload fairing to the Falcon 9 first stage (see below). This was the final step in the integration process—one day ahead of schedule.
With Falcon 9 integrated, our focus shifts to the big launch mount and erector. All the pieces have been delivered, and the coming days will see a tremendous amount of welding to join them all together.
The long hours put in by the SpaceX team over the last several weeks, particularly the folks on the ground at the Cape, are certainly paying off. Once the launch mount and erector are complete, we’ll transfer Falcon 9 on to the erector and raise it to vertical early in 2009. Happy New Year!
The New Year got off to a great start for SpaceX with integration of Falcon 9 being completed a day ahead of schedule. Focus then shifted to the launch mount and erector and over the weekend, our team has made incredible progress.
Over the last few days, we flipped the launch mount base and installed it to the launch mount. We also installed the forward cradle and assembled the strongback in preparation for mating to the launch table base. Machining on the forward rail car assemblies was completed, with work on the aft rail car assembly quickly nearing completion, and a significant portion of the hydraulic systems were also installed.
Our next major milestone is rotation of the Launch Deck to vertical in order to initiate mating to the strongback, scheduled for Thursday, January 8th.
Our welders finished assembly of the pieces of the launch mount, which we shipped in sections to the Cape. Measuring over 40 feet on a side, it forms the base of the mobile erector that holds the rocket to the pad up until the moment of launch. Total weight of this steel structure — about 97,000 lbs.
After raising the rocket and erector to vertical, the launch mount must be securely attached to the pad itself. A set of linkages [right of first photo below] join the launcher to the pad, and a set of large kickback cylinders [blue, center] lock it all in place.
The new Falcon 9 erector rides on four legacy rail cars — two at each end. They roll on the same tracks that once carried Titan rockets to the pad from the old integration building (now demolished) that was located south of the pad.
Over the last few days, we kept just ahead of our schedule, rotating the launch deck vertical and mating the strongback. We also installed the main lift cylinders, and raised and lowered the launch mount. Today we took the erector to vertical using the hydraulics system (see below). Getting the erector operational is the final step before taking Falcon 9 vertical.
