SpaceX eyes Dec. 19 for first launch since June

SpaceX is targeting Dec. 19 for a critical commercial launch that will double as the debut flight of an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket and the company’s return-to-flight mission after a failure six months ago halted SpaceX’s busy launch manifest. Final preparations are underway inside SpaceX’s rocket assembly hangar at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, where technicians are putting together the two-stage rocket and readying 11 small dishwasher-sized satellites to be orbited for Orbcomm. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and chief executive, tweeted an update on the launch early Thursday. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 13)