Main Engine Cut OffSpaceX Closing in on Falcon Heavy Demo
Chris Gebhardt for NASASpaceflight.com with a ton of Falcon Heavy updates:
This remaining work to the TEL comes after months of working between launches and during the range-imposed downtime in July.
At the beginning of summer, a total of 60 days of work to finalize Pad-A for Falcon Heavy were needed.
As recently as 18 October, processing information on L2 noted that SpaceX had gotten that number down to just 21 days.
That number has since been reduced even lower, and more work is planned for the TEL’s reaction frame between the just-launched Koreasat-5A mission and the mid-November Zuma launch – with SpaceX hoping to finish installation of the new Tail Service Masts (TSMs) for Falcon Heavy before Zuma.
Read the whole article for more on SLC-40 work, the Falcon Heavy engine start sequence, and the final Falcon Heavy flow leading to its launch date in late December.