I have the unfortunate duty to once again announce that the HESSI
launch has been delayed indefinitely due to launch vehicle concerns.
While the X43 issues, the Kodiak Star and QuikToms launches were all
impediments at one time to the HESSI October launch, we briefly held
hope for an early November launch. Some of you may have noticed the
November launch date on the KSC website.
Yesterday, however, Orbital said they were puzzled by some of
the preliminary data in the X43 wind tunnel testing and had decided
to conduct similar wind tunnel tests of the Pegasus at the conclusion
of the X43 tests. Given the typical time for such tests, the analyses,
discussions and possible changes to the vehicle, Orbital was unwilling
yesterday to speculate how long it would be before HESSI's rocket
would be ready to launch.
We are continuing to press for an early launch date and will pass
along any information we receive as soon as possible.
- Peter
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Peter R. Harvey
Space Sciences Lab, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
Phone: 510-642-0643 or 510-708-7501 Cell
Fax: 510-643-8302 email: prh@ssl.berkeley.edu
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