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Falcon 9 CASSIOPE

Commercial mission and first Falcon 9 v1.1 flight, with improved 13-tonne to LEO capacity. Following second-stage separation from the first stage, an attempt was made to perform an ocean touchdown test of the discarded booster vehicle. The test provided good test data on the experiment-its primary objective-but as the booster neared the ocean, aerodynamic forces caused an uncontrollable roll. The center engine, depleted of fuel by centrifugal force, shut down resulting in the impact and destruction of the vehicle.

Launch Information

Launch Date

Sunday 29th September 2013 at 16:00 UTC

Launch Pad

VAFB SLC 4E

Rocket

Falcon 9

Booster

B1003.1

Launch Success

Yes

Landing Attempt

Yes

Landing Success

No

Landing Site

Unknown

Payloads

Payload
Customer
Manufacturer
Mass (kg)
Mass (lbs)
Orbit
CASSIOPE

MDA

MDA

500
1100
PO

Launch Livestream