Editing Falcon 1 (section)

===Third flight===

{{Main|Trailblazer (satellite)|NanoSail-D|PRESat}}
SpaceX attempted the third Falcon 1 launch on August 3, 2008 (GMT) from [[Kwajalein]].<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/falcon/003/ |title=Falcon 1 suffers another setback |access-date=November 25, 2022 |date=August 3, 2008|publisher=SpaceflightNow.com }}</ref> This flight carried the [[Trailblazer (satellite)|Trailblazer]] (Jumpstart-1) satellite for the [[US Air Force]],<ref name="launchwindow">{{cite web|url=http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=43|title=SpaceX conducts static test firing of next Falcon 1 rocket|publisher=SpaceX|access-date=June 26, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630040814/http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=43|archive-date=June 30, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> the [[NanoSail-D]] and [[PREsat]] nanosatellites for NASA and a [[space burial]] payload for [[Celestis]].<ref name="Celestis">{{cite web|url=http://www.memorialspaceflights.com/explorers.asp|title=The Explorers Flight|publisher=Space Services Incorporated (Celestis)|access-date=June 5, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907104137/http://www.memorialspaceflights.com/explorers.asp|archive-date=September 7, 2008}}</ref> The rocket did not reach orbit. However, the first stage, with the new Merlin 1C engine, performed perfectly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2008/08/falcon_launch_v.html|title=Falcon Launch Video and Message from Elon Musk – NASA Watch<!-- Bot generated title -->|website=Nasawatch.com|access-date=August 18, 2017}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

When preparing for launch, an earlier launch attempt was delayed by the unexpected slow loading of helium onto the Falcon 1; thus exposing the fuel and oxidizer to the cryogenic helium, rendering the vehicle in a premature launch state. Still within the specified window, the launch attempt was recycled, but aborted half a second before lift-off because of a sensor misreading. The problem was resolved, and the launch was again recycled. With 25 minutes left in the launch window, the Falcon 1 lifted off from Omelek Island at 03:35 UTC. During the launch, small vehicle roll oscillations were visible. Stage separation occurred as planned, but because residual fuel in the new Merlin 1C engine evaporated and provided transient thrust, the first stage recontacted the second stage, preventing successful completion of the mission.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nasawatch.com/archives/2008/08/spacex-telecon-on-falcon-1-launch-failure.html|title=SpaceX Telecon on Falcon 1 Launch Failure|publisher=NASA Watch|date=August 6, 2008}}</ref>

The SpaceX flight-3 mission summary indicated that flight 4 would take place as planned and that the failure of flight 3 did not make any technological upgrades necessary. A longer time between first-stage engine shutdown and stage separation was declared to be enough.<ref name="Mission3-Summary" /> The full video of the third launch attempt was made public by SpaceX a few weeks after the launch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spacex.com/media|title=Media Gallery|last=SpaceX|website=SpaceX|access-date=August 18, 2017|archive-date=August 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817233900/http://www.spacex.com/media|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Musk blamed himself for the failure of this launch, as well as the two prior attempts, explaining at the 2017 [[International Astronautical Congress]] that his role as chief engineer in the early Falcon 1 launches was not by choice and almost bankrupted the company before succeeding:<ref>{{Citation|author=Elon Musk|title=Making Life Multiplanetary {{!}} 2017 International Astronautical Congress|date=September 28, 2017|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdUX3ypDVwI&t=12m04s|access-date=November 28, 2018}}</ref>
<blockquote>
And the reason that I ended up being the chief engineer or chief designer, was not because I want to, it's because I couldn't hire anyone. Nobody good would join. So I ended up being that by default. And I messed up the first three launches. The first three launches failed. Fortunately the fourth launch which was – that was the last money that we had for Falcon 1 – the fourth launch worked, or that would have been it for SpaceX.
</blockquote>

Musk further explained the situation to [[Ars Technica]] journalist Eric Berger:<ref>{{Cite book|last=Berger|first=Eric|author-link=Eric Berger (meteorologist)|title=Liftoff|publisher=[[William Morrow and Company]]|year=2021|isbn=978-0-06-297997-1|pages=182}}</ref>
<blockquote>
At the time I had to allocate a lot of capital to [[Tesla, Inc.|Tesla]] and [[SolarCity]], so I was out of money. We had three failures under our belt. So it's pretty hard to go raise money. [[Great Recession|The recession]] is starting to hit. The Tesla financing round that we tried to raise that summer had failed. I got divorced. I didn't even have a house. [[Justine Musk|My ex-wife]] had the house. So it was a shitty summer.
</blockquote>