SpaceX conducts quick tests and ships the Falcon 9 second stage in preparation for the next NASA astronaut mission.

It was easy to identify Crew-3's Falcon 9 upper stage immediately after it was discovered at SpaceX's McGregor, TX development and testing facilities on October 2nd, thanks to the vigilant eye of local resident turned SpaceX fan Reagan Beck. While it was technically possible that the NASA-branded Falcon S2 might be used to launch one of several prospective NASA spacecraft or perhaps Crew Dragon's Crew-4 mission in April 2022, the most likely destination by far for the NASA-branded Falcon S2 was Crew-3.

Due in part to the fact that Falcon booster qualification testing typically takes McGregor at least two weeks, but more importantly to the apparent razor-thin schedule margins implied, there was some understandable scepticism that the upper stage would launch Crew-3 just four weeks after it was first spotted. Additionally, Crew Dragon normally arrives at the launch pad atop Falcon 9 at least 5-7 days prior to launch to allow for an integrated static fire, final checkouts, and 'dry dress' practise runs for each mission's crew.

Advertisement

Additionally, even after completing static fire qualification testing in McGregor, Crew-3's Falcon stage would need to be packaged, transported over 1,000 miles by road, carefully unpacked at a SpaceX launch site or hangar, outfitted with a Merlin Vacuum nozzle extension, installed on the mission's Falcon 9 booster, and mated to Crew Dragon before that pad rollout can occur. In other words, rather than launching on October 30th, Crew-3's upper stage would most likely need to arrive at SpaceX's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Pad 39A launch facilities at least 9-10 days prior to launch.

That means that from the time the NASA-branded upper stage was discovered on a McGregor test stand, it had approximately two weeks to complete qualification testing and ship to Pad 39A. That seemed excessive at the time, especially for a single-engine Falcon second stage explicitly charged with safely carrying four men to space. In truth, McGregor's Falcon S2 testing appears to be significantly faster than booster testing, and the supposed Crew-3 stage appears to have passed qualification testing and left the test stand less than five days after installation.

In theory, this provided the McGregor team with roughly a week to complete post-test inspections, clean the interiors of its propellant tanks, and prepare for the final part of its journey to Florida. SpaceX appears to have accomplished this without incident, as a fresh Falcon upper stage — maybe for Crew-3 – was observed in Florida on October 14th, just a few miles from a SpaceX launch site.

However, as evidenced by further photographs and accounts from Reagan, McGregor's second stage test crew has been quite busy over the previous month. Between September 21st and 28th, another second stage completed qualification testing prior to the Crew-3 stage's arrival. S2 was put on Crew-3 on October 2nd and removed on October 7th. Without delay, another second tier was built on the same platform on October 10th and supposedly finished testing by October 13th - the equivalent of qualifying a new higher stage every week. Even if the Falcon stage that arrived at Cape Canaveral on October 14th is not a Crew-3 stage, Crew-3 stages must be close behind.

In December 2018, the first orbit-capable Crew Dragon spacecraft stands alongside its human-rated Falcon 9 rocket (upper stage included). (SpaceX)

Advertisement

Finally, it appears as though SpaceX is testing and shipping one of two vital Falcon 9 stages in preparation for a critical, time-sensitive NASA astronaut launch with schedule margins defined in hours or single-digit days. This is in stark contrast to competitors Arianespace and United Launch Alliance, as well as NASA themselves, which typically supply flight gear months in advance. Since Falcon 9's debut eleven years ago, every Falcon second stage that has survived stage separation – 127 of 127 – has successfully ignited its Merlin Vacuum engine one or more times and delivered its payload(s) to the proper orbit (s). Nearly half of those successful launches occurred in the last three and a half years — and all of them used the same Falcon 9 upper stage model that is now routinely tasked with bringing astronauts to orbit.

In other words, while delivering the Falcon second stage for a NASA Crew mission less than two weeks before the assembled rocket is scheduled to roll out to the launch pad may appear reckless, it is more likely evidence of SpaceX's second stage build/test teams and facilities operating as an extremely reliable, well-oiled machine.

Advertisement