FLORIDA – SpaceX decided to postpone the Dragon cargo mission to International Space Station (ISS) which was scheduled to launch on Friday June 10, 2022. The planned launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, was postponed because a leak was detected during refueling.
SpaceX detected an increase in vapor from the fuel monomethyl hydrazine, or MMH, in an “isolated region” of the Dragon spacecraft’s propulsion system during propellant refueling ahead of launch this week.
Refueling the Dragon spacecraft is the final stage of preparing the capsule for flight. Typically, refueling takes place just before SpaceX transfers the plane to the launch pad for integration with the Falcon 9 rocket.
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The Dragon spacecraft has a propellant tank filled with hydrazine fuel and the oxidizer nitrogen tetroxide. The two propellants ignite upon contact with each other, providing impetus for the Draco thrusters on cargo ships used for maneuvering in orbit.
Each Dragon spaceship has 16 Draco thrusters, tiny rocket engines that generate about 90 pounds of thrust. The Draco engine is used to burn orbital adjustments and control the spacecraft’s approach to the space station.
“SpaceX’s ground processing team, working at the Dragon repair facility on the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, removed fuel and oxidizer from the spacecraft area with increased hydrazine vapor readings,” NASA said in a statement. /6/2022).
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Sources have told Spaceflight Now a leak of hydrazine fuel could be the cause of the steam buildup, but NASA says the source of the vapor has not been identified. “Once the cause is identified, a joint NASA and SpaceX team will determine and announce a new launch date,” NASA continued.
