nasaspaceflight.com April 25, 2017 by Chris Bergin
SpaceX is preparing for Static Fire tests in two regions of the United States this week, both of which will advance the company’s profile in the launch industry. A Falcon 9 booster is expected to conduct a test firing at KSC’s 39A ahead of SpaceX’s first NROL mission, while the core booster for the first Falcon Heavy is sat on the test stand in McGregor, Texas.
Falcon 9 NROL-76:
Following on from the successful launch of the SES-10 satellite – which was the first time SpaceX had used a “flight proven” booster – the NROL-76 launch will mark the company’s entrance into national security missions.
Most NROL missions are launched by SpaceX competitor, United Launch Alliance, with a large amount of success. The most recent mission, with the NROL-79 spacecraft, was launched by an Atlas V from Vandenberg.
A successful launch of NROL-76 will effectively open the door for future lucrative national security launch services contracts.
Very little is known about the spacecraft, as is usual per the secretive nature of their mission. SpaceX employees will also be subject to the secrecy, which holds tighter regulations for flow elements such as the processing of the payload during fairing encapsulation.
More:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/04/spacex-static-fire-tests-spy-sat-rocket-falcon-heavy-core/
