The Hill reports that the US Air Force’s “first flight test of the rocket booster for its prototype hypersonic missile failed Monday when the test weapon did not launch, the service said Tuesday.” During the “test flight over the Point Mugu Sea Range off the Southern California coast, a B-52H Stratofortress was supposed to launch the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon’s (ARRW) booster vehicle, but ‘the test missile was not able to complete its launch sequence,’ the Air Force said in a news release.” The ARRW “was still ‘safely’ on the aircraft when it returned to Edwards Air Force Base, the release added. That means Air Force engineers and testers will be able to study the defect and attempt to test the missile again, the release said.”
Full Story (The Hill)
Tag: Test Launch
SpaceX Could Launch SN15 as Early as Tuesday
CNET News reports that SpaceX is aiming to conduct a test flight of its Starship SN15 prototype as early as Tuesday. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk “said SN15 ‘has hundreds of design improvements across structures, avionics/software and engine,’ including, hopefully, upgrades to cover some of the problems that have prevented SpaceX from sticking the landing so far without a rapid unscheduled disassembly.” SN15 “has undergone some initial testing, and Musk initially tweeted that the aim was to launch last month, but that target continued to slip.” On Thursday, the FAA “said it had approved a launch license covering SN15, SN16 and SN17.” SN15 “could launch anytime (or not at all) within the approved windows once all the required closures and permissions are in place.”
Full Story (CNET News)