What’s Next for SpaceX

Chris Gebhardt for NASASpaceFlight:

Currently, a Falcon 9 first stage is understood to be patiently waiting at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It is believed this Falcon 9 will launch the first mission since the AMOS-6 incident on a December launch that may involve the Iridium NEXT flight.

Meanwhile, a new first stage was spotted at McGregor, erected on the test stand. A hot fire of the nine core stage Merlin 1D engines is expected either early this week.

We should get some closure in the next few weeks on the AMOS-6 front. They’re getting started with static fires and testing in McGregor again, which means the investigation is entering the wrap-up and sign-off phases. The return-to-flight mission seems to be Iridium NEXT out of Vandenberg, with a flight out of 39A in mid-December.

As far as pads go:

SLC-40, which was damaged in the AMOS-6 explosion, isn’t expected to be back in action until at least the second quarter of 2017.

Once SLC-40 is back up and running, they’ll have 3 active pads, which will be a great help for their flight rate. My guess is once SLC-40 is back online, they’ll move all Falcon 9 flights there and prepare 39A for Falcon Heavy’s maiden launch.

Getting back to flight is obviously highest priority right now, but once they’re back into a rhythm, getting Falcon Heavy flying is critically important for their goal of a 2018 Red Dragon mission and will surely become a big focus.