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SpaceX Says Government Shutdown Sets Back Rocket Test, Missions

SpaceX Says Government Shutdown Sets Back Rocket Test, Missions

(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. said the U.S. government shutdown will impact a critical test of its biggest and most powerful rocket, as well as missions scheduled for customers this spring.

SpaceX has been preparing for a “static fire” test of its Falcon Heavy rocket’s 27 engines from a launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and was targeting its maiden flight for later this month. Those plans, plus an International Space Station resupply mission and launches from Florida and California for customers, will be impacted by the shutdown, according to a company statement.

“We remain hopeful that the Congress will quickly resolve their differences and put our partners in the Air Force and NASA back to doing their important work as soon as possible,” the company said in the emailed statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dana Hull in San Francisco at dhull12@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net, Anne Riley Moffat

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