Bart Leahy

February 6th, 2017

Commercial Crew Program: CGI rendition of a SpaceX Crewed Dragon spacecraft in orbit above Earth. Image Credit: Nathan Koga / SpaceFlight Insider

The Wall Street Journalstatedin a recent report that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has expressed newconcerns about the safety of SpaceXsFalcon 9 launch vehicle in a preliminary report to the U.S. Congress. The early version of the GAO document, which has not yet been posted online, reportedcracks in the turbopump blades of the Merlin engine, among other faults.

NASA considers these types of cracks to be major threats to Falcon 9s safety and that the blades might need to be redesigned before the agency allows astronauts to ride on the rocket. The agency considers the turbopump blades, which direct propellants toward the Merlin combustion chamber, as presenting an unacceptable risk for crewed flights.

The Journal reported a SpaceX spokesman as saying, We have qualified our engines to be robust to these types of cracks but are modifying the design to avoid them altogether. The pending changes will be part of the final design for the Falcon 9. He added that SpaceX is working in partnership with NASA to qualify engines for manned spaceflight.

This preliminary report is becoming public two weeks after SpaceXs launch on January 14, the first successful launch since a Falcon 9 exploded during fueling on September 1, 2016. The next launch, scheduled to be the companys first from Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A, has been delayed until mid-February, at the earliest.

The Journal also reports:

Industry officials have known about problems with cracked blades on Falcon 9 versions for many months or even years. But cracks continued to be found during tests as recently as September 2016, Robert Lightfoot, NASAs acting administrator, confirmed in an interview with The Wall Street Journal earlier this week.

Mr. Lightfoot said were talking to [SpaceX] about turbo machinery, adding that he thinks we know how to fix them. In the interview, Mr. Lightfoot said he didnt know if the solution would require a potentially time-consuming switch to bigger turbopumps.

GAO likely will reportthat both companies willshift their first crewed flights under NASAs Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program to 2018.

The GAO is looking into issues with Boeings CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. For Boeing, officials close to the investigation told the Journal that GAO investigators raised questions about Boeings reliability tests of their parachute systems.

In addition to the turbopump blades, the Journal reported that GAO has cited SpaceXs frequent modifications of Falcon 9 designs as a potential source of delays in obtaining NASA certification for the vehicle.

Spaceflight Insider has reached out to SpaceXbut has not received a response yet.

AsSpaceflight Insiderreported onJan. 30, SpaceX has rescheduled their launch of the EchoStar communications satellite to late February, after the next cargo launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in mid-February.

This schedule change allows time for additional testing of ground systems ahead of the CRS-10 Mission, SpaceX said in a statement. The launch vehicles, Dragon, and the EchoStar satellite are all healthy and prepared for launch.

Tagged: Boeing CST-100 Starliner Commercial Crew Program Falcon 9 Lead Stories SpaceX

Bart Leahy is a freelance technical writer living in Orlando, Florida. Leahy's diverse career has included work for The Walt Disney Company, NASA, the Department of Defense, Nissan, a number of commercial space companies, small businesses, nonprofits, as well as the Science Cheerleaders.

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Preliminary GAO report calls commercial crew vehicles into question - SpaceFlight Insider