SpaceX CRS-7 launch and landing attempt

July 20, 2015 Update: CRS-7 Investigation Update

Summary: Preliminary analysis suggests the overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank was initiated by a flawed piece of support hardware (a “strut”) inside the second stage which failed approximately 138 seconds into flight. The pressurization system itself was performing nominally, but with the failure of this strut, the helium system integrity was breached.  This caused a high pressure event inside the second stage within less than one second and the stage was no longer able to maintain its structural integrity. The strut (supplied by an outside contractor) was designed and material certified to handle 10,000 lbs of force, but failed at 2,000 lbs, a five-fold difference.

Despite the fact that these struts have been used on all previous Falcon 9 flights and are certified to withstand well beyond the expected loads during flight, SpaceX will no longer use these particular struts for flight applications. In addition, SpaceX will implement additional hardware quality audits throughout the vehicle to further ensure all parts received perform as expected per their certification documentation.

As noted above, these conclusions are preliminary.  Our investigation is ongoing until we exonerate all other aspects of the vehicle, but at this time, we expect to return to flight this fall and fly all the customers we intended to fly in 2015 by end of year.
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It's interesting to note that Elon Musk has stated the Dragon capsule survived the stage failure, and ejected clear of the explosion, had a software package that would permit the capsule to deploy its parachutes in such an emergency been installed, in all likelihood the capsule would have survived its plunge into the ocean and been recovered intact. Future flights will carry this kind of recovery software.
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Launch and break up, Sunday, June 28, 2015
  
SpaceX CRS-7 suffered an anomaly shortly after Max-Q and broke up in-flight. The break up begins at approximately 23:40. The vehicle was at 32 kilometers altitude, 13 kilometers downrange, traveling at a speed of 1 kilometer per second when the break up occurred, approximately 2 minutes into flight. According to a tweet by Elon Musk the second stage oxygen tank suffered an over pressurization event.



CRS-7 break up high definition video slowed to a tenth of the normal speed.



Original Pre Launch Post, June 27, 2015:

Launch is scheduled for Sunday, June 28, 10:21 local time with an alternate launch of Monday at 09:58 local time. The weather outlook for Sunday’s attempt is highly favorable, with a forecast of 90 percent for acceptable conditions.

The Falcon 9 v1.1 will once again sport landing legs as the latest attempt to land and recover the first stage will be conducted.

SpaceX’s new drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" is presently on station in the Atlantic.

After Dragon and Falcon 9’s second stage are on their way to orbit, the first stage will execute a controlled reentry through Earth’s atmosphere, targeting touchdown on the autonomous spaceport drone ship.

June 25, 2015 SpaceX posted this previously unreleased, longer video, from their tracking camera. It shows the stage’s descent through the atmosphere, when the vehicle is traveling faster than the speed of sound, all the way to touchdown



For more information see: The why and how of landing rockets.

The mission carries more than 4,000 lbs of supplies and mission critical materials for expeditions 44 and 45. In Dragon's trunk for CRS-7 the spacecraft will be delivering the International Docking Adapter.

For more information see: Docking Adapter Sets Stage for Commercial Crew Craft.