JCSAT-16 transporter to HIF, former shuttle transporter gets new life with SpaceX.
The first stage of JCSAT-16′s Falcon 9 was transported from Port Canaveral to the Horizontal Integration Facility at LC-39A yesterday, August 25. SpaceX has been performing the standard post-recovery operations on the landed stage, which lofted the JCSAT-16 satellite into orbit on August 14. These included safing of the vehicle’s systems, removal of landing legs, and initial inspections. Of Course I Still Love You, the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship which the booster landed on, arrived at the Port August 17. JCSAT-16 marked the first time SpaceX has used the former 76-wheeled Orbiter Transporter, which it acquired from NASA in 2015. Measuring 106 feet long, the transporter used to carry the shuttle orbiters from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building in between flights. SpaceX will now use the transporter to carry recovered Falcon 9 rockets from the ASDS wharf at the Port to the HIF at LC-39A. Previous ocean-recovered rockets were transported using a modified semi truck. P/c: Bob Richards (Moon Express CEO)
