Wednesday, January 30, 2019
SpaceX Shifts Fairing Catching Ship, Mr. Steven, To East Coast
Hawthorne-based SpaceX is shifting its rocket fairing-catching ship, Mr. Steven, to the East Coast, as it concludes the rapid pace of launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base for satellite constellation operator Iridium. According to SpaceX, it began moving Mr. Steven to the East Coast on Tuesday. The vessel was seen moving towards Mexico as it makes its way towards the Panama Canal on Tuesday afternoon. SpaceX had been attempting to catch a fairing--the structure which protects satellite payloads during launch--as part of its efforts to make its Falcon 9 rockets even more re-usable. Mr. Steven has been conducting fairing catch tests off of Catalina Island all year. SpaceX released a video of a near-miss catch of a fairing in one of its recent fairing recovery tests on Tuesday.
One of Mr. Steven’s final West Coast fairing recovery tests before shipping out for the East Coast. Wait for it… pic.twitter.com/A7q37Gpllu
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 30, 2019