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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

After Thursday test firing, SpaceX may be a month from commercial crew launch [arstechnica.com]

On Thursday afternoon at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX performed a hot-fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket that will fly its first commercial crew demonstration mission. This flight will not carry crew members but will serve as a test of the launch system, Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the company's ability to dock the vehicle safely with the International Space Station.

[...] Typically, such a firing occurs one to two weeks before the launch of a rocket. NASA and SpaceX, however, have yet to confirm a launch date for the mission. The current public no-earlier-than date for the flight is February 16, but sources indicated to Ars that, in terms of internal planning, the current NET date is February 23.

Before a formal launch date is set, officials with the company and space agency must still give the mission a green light during a final review process. These reviews will proceed despite the partial government shutdown, as key NASA personnel designated for the commercial crew program are continuing to work without pay in support of the flight.

[...] In addition to life-support systems that can support up to seven astronauts, the Crew Dragon has several key upgrades that must be tested in spaceflight, such as solar panels built into the spacecraft [arstechnica.com] rather than extended panels.

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