CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying a Dragon cargo spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) broke apart shortly after launch. The launch vehicle had lifted off at 10:21 a.m. EDT on June 27 from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral launch site.

The Dragon capsule, which was the seventh launched under NASA's Cargo Resupply Services (CRS) contract, was carrying supplies to the ISS, including food, scientific equipment, and station hardware. One of the more important pieces of equipment being carried was the International Docking Adaptor-1 (IDA-1), part of a universal docking system being developed by NASA so more companies can take part in ISS operations. The Dragon also carried eight CubeSats for Planet Labs.

The loss of the Dragon is the third cargo vessel carrying supplies to the ISS in the last eight months. Orbital ATK lost a Cygnus vehicle, while Roscosmos lost a Progress spacecraft. There are four different spacecraft designed to carry supplies to the ISS. One reason for having multiple types of resupply spacecraft is for redundancy in case of failure. However, with three of the four experiencing failure in such a short period of time there is some pressure on the system. That said, ISS operators say there is enough food aboard the space station to last through the summer, and another Progress is due to launch this week, while a Japanese HTV will launch later this summer.

The loss is also a blow to SpaceX. The company will need to investigate why this happened and work to prevent such losses in the future. Still, even after the loss, SpaceX has a 94.7 percent success rate with the Falcon 9. Therefore the accident will have little effect on the Falcon 9's marketability.

More importantly, the launch failure will delay SpaceX's schedule. Delays have been a bigger problem for SpaceX than reliability. The company's low price continues to attract customers. However, it has been unable to keep up with demand. Only six Falcon 9 launches occurred in 2014. SpaceX appeared to be picking up the pace in 2015, with six launches through June - a rate of about one per month. However, the investigation into the launch failure will delay launches for at least a few months. Even if launches resume later in 2015, SpaceX will not be able to keep up with demand. Some launch customers scheduled for 2015 will be pushed back to 2016, while those customers in 2016 will be pushed back as well.

Source: NASA
Associated URL: http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-administrator-statement-on-the-loss-of-spacex-crs-7
Author: B. Ostrove, Analyst