SpaceX used to conduct static fire tests before every launch, but not anymore. Why is that?
SpaceX used to perform a so-called static fire test before every launch of its Falcon 9 rocket. However, since 2020 SpaceX has in some cases not performed this pre-launch test at all. Let’s take a look at the purpose of a static fire, the types of missions where SpaceX skips this test, and try to figure out why. We will also explain why some static fires are performed with the payload attached and others without.