Spacecom’s faith in SpaceX remains solid in lead up to AMOS-17 launch
SpaceX company logo. Image credit: SpaceX
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLa. — SpaceX might be based out of California, but the NewSpace company is making its presence known in Florida. An upcoming flight could serve as a renewal of sorts for a relationship with one of the company’s clients.
On Wednesday, July 31, the company conducted a static test fire of the nine Merlin 1D engines located at the business end of a Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket. The test fire was carried out at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Florida. This test is one of the final hurdles the Falcon 9 has to clear before being given the go-ahead for flight, in this case the flight of the AMOS-17 communications satellite.
AMOS-17’s flight could serve as confirmation that Spacecom’s (the satellite’s operator) faith in SpaceX is well-founded. This is due to the fact that an earlier test involving another AMOS spacecraft didn’t go as well.
On Sept. 1, 2016 another Falcon 9 rocket was destroyed, along with the AMOS-6 satellite that was enclosed in the rocket’s nose cone as well as part of SLC-40. The satellite was estimated to have cost as much as $200 million (USD).
One might assume that this would make Spacecom skittish in terms of flying another of the Israeli company’s payloads atop a SpaceX launch vehicle. With the AMOS 17 satellite poised for launch at 6:51 p.m. EDT (22:51 UTC) , this does not appear to be the case. In fact, AMOS-6’s successor, dubbed AMOS-8 – is also scheduled to launch atop a Falcon 9.
Jason Rhian
Jason Rhian spent several years honing his skills with internships at NASA, the National Space Society and other organizations. He has provided content for outlets such as: Aviation Week & Space Technology, Space.com, The Mars Society and Universe Today.
