SpaceX Prepares for Second Falcon 1 Rocket Launch

SpaceX Targets Jan. 21 Launch for Second Falcon 1 Rocket

SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket is being readied for a second test launch in January 2007. (Image credit: SpaceX.)

The privatelaunch firm SpaceExploration Technologies (SpaceX) is reviewing the results of a Thursdayrocket engine test in preparations for the second test flight of its Falcon 1booster.

The ElSegundo, California-based firm checked the Falcon1 rocket's engine during a static fire test Thursday at its Omelek Island launch pad on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

"It wentoff very well and no anomalies were detected," SpaceX CEO Elon Musktold SPACE.com late Friday of the engine test. "We're still digestingthe data from that."

If the resultsare favorable, SpaceX may prepare the Falcon 1 rocket to fly sometime during a four-daylaunch window that opens March 19. The test flight has been delayed severaltimes due to equipmentand rangesafety issues.

The plannedspace shot is a demonstration flight for the U.S. Defense Advanced ResearchProjects Agency (DARPA) and will be the second test launch of SpaceX's Falcon 1booster since its unsuccessfuldebut last year.

Since that initialflight, Musk said, SpaceX engineers have made a host of improvements to therocket and its launch site infrastructure.

The Falcon1 rocket is a 68-foot (21-meter) booster with a reusable first stage designedto parachute down to an ocean splashdown for later recovery. SpaceX hasscheduled a total of three Falcon 1 launches for 2007.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Tariq is the award-winning Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001. He covers human spaceflight, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He's a recipient of the 2022 Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting and the 2025 Space Pioneer Award from the National Space Society. He is an Eagle Scout and Space Camp alum with journalism degrees from the USC and NYU. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.