SpaceX says it expects to resume launches as soon as November, avoiding a lengthy delay after its Sept. 1 launch pad explosion grounded flights and destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and a communications satellite.
Speaking at a satellite business conference in Paris, President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said the Hawthorne-based company is anticipating "being down for about three months — and getting back to flight in the November time frame,'' Bloomberg reported.
SpaceX is still trying to determine the cause of the explosion. The rocket and its payload exploded while the vehicle was being fueled ahead of a standard pre-launch static fire test. SpaceX has said the "anomaly" occurred around the upper-stage oxygen tank.
The company has said it will be able to launch from its alternate launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida during the November time frame as well as Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
