Space Exploration Technologies has responded to Hyperbola's enquiry about the last minute announcement of the delay to the company's first commercial launch with its Falcon 1 rocket, scheduled for 20 April, and denied there is any damage to the rocket:
We are re-evaluating predicted launch vehicle environments on the satellite to ensure all systems are ready to support a successful launch. As for this being a "late" find, flushing out this type of potential issue is exactly why we do pre-launch tests and checkouts. Contrary to other reports, there is no damage to the launch vehicle (all prelaunch checks were accomplished successfully, including the successful static test fire of the vehicle last Wednesday). We are evaluating the extent of the delay, and I will let you know as soon as we have a new date for both RazakSAT and Falcon 9.
on April 22, 2009 12:29 PM | Reply
A new lanch date for Falcon 9? What has the postponed first commercial launch of Falcon I got to do with the first non-commercial launch of Falcon 9?
on April 22, 2009 12:42 PM | Reply
I think its just a typo on SpaceX's part, it should be Falcon 1. I'll ask them. I have been too busy, will ping them an email.
on April 22, 2009 5:33 PM | Reply
Hmm, doesn't look like a typo from the context. Why would it be "a new date for both" if it's a single launch?
Having a provisional date for F9 would be nice, right now we're left only with a September-ish date which could slip further.