posted 07-06-2015 07:33 AM               

Expect to reach preliminary conclusions regarding last flight by end of week. Will brief key customers and FAA, then post on our website.

8 a.m., Tuesday, July 7 - Welcome Remarks for the 2015 ISS R&D Conference by Mike Suffredini followed by a "Conversation" with Mike Suffredini and Elon Musk (Starts at 8:15am} (NTV-1 (Public))

posted 07-20-2015 03:06 PM               

The most probable, but not yet definitive, cause of the CRS-7 launch failure was a defective third-party-sourced steel strut that snapped in flight, damaging a helium bottle. That in turn released a small amount of helium into the upper stage oxygen tank, which resulted in the overpressurization that led to the failure.

Going forward, all struts will be individually inspected by SpaceX regardless of their rating (the strut in question is believed to have failed at g-forces five times less than it was rated to support).

The Dragon would have survived had it been able to deploy its parachutes. Going forward, an update to the Dragon's software will support deploying the chutes.

The soonest that Falcon 9 will fly again is September, though it is not yet clear what customer's payload will be on that flight. The loss has pushed the planned first flight of Falcon Heavy to spring 2016 (maybe April), but will not have an affect on Crew Dragon.