US aerospace manufacturer SpaceX said on Friday it had carried out a static fire test of the company's Falcon 9 rocket, which in February will conduct an unmanned launch of a Dragon 2 spacecraft.

"Static fire test complete - targeting February launch from historic Launch Complex 39A for Crew Dragon's first demonstration flight!" the company said via Twitter.

Earlier in the week, a source in a Russian space industry told Sputnik that the unmanned launch of a Dragon 2 spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) was delayed until February 16 and might be postponed further.

SpaceX traditionally conducts static fire tests prior to the launch. In September 2016, the Falcon 9 rocket exploded while being fueled for a test fire. The company suspended launches for several months, resuming them in January 2017.

According to the results of the investigation, the explosion during the pre-launch refueling occurred due to an emergency situation in a Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel (COPV) inside a liquid oxygen tank of the second stage of the rocket.

Source: Sputnik News

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