RatSat

Right after the third launch failure, Musk made an encouraging speech for the SpaceX employees and told them to launch another rocket in six weeks. According to Musk, this tight schedule was necessary or else the company would be in bankruptcy. The rocket was built out of spare parts laying around in the factory.[1]^: 183

The fourth launch of the Falcon 1 was supposed to deliver the Malaysian government's RazakSAT satellite, but the Malaysian government has backed out and no other customer was willing to launch on a thrice-failed rocket. Therefore, the SpaceX team had to make a non-functional aluminum boilerplate to simulate the rocket's payload. The boilerplate weighed 165 kg (364 lb) and named "RatSat" after the last names of Jeff Richichi, Ray Amador and Chris Thompson, who were part of the company's structures team. The design for RatSat's logo was inspired by Ed Roth t-shirts, whom Thompson admired.[1]^{: 183–184}

Normally, Falcon 1's first stage would be shipped by a container to Omelek Island, Kwajalein Atoll, U.S. (where SpaceX launched the rocket) and Falcon 1's second stage would fly out to the island using the Douglas DC-8 aircraft. The first stage was too big to be flown out using a DC-8. However, the tight schedule mandated the first stage to be shipped over air, so after scrambling with military contacts, a SpaceX employee was able to book a flight on the U.S. Air Force's Boeing C-17 Globemaster III with a price of $500,000. Being much larger than the DC-8, the C-17 can easily fit the rocket's first stage (which its dry mass weighs 1,800 kg (4,000 lb) compared to the C-17 carrying capacity of 77,000 kg or 170,000 lb) and twenty supporting employees.[1]^{: 184–187}

Falcon 1's journey through the Pacific Ocean

On 3 September, the C-17 landed at the Los Angeles International Airport near SpaceX's headquarters, loaded up, and took off without issues. An intentional small opening in the Falcon 1's oxygen tank fuel pressurization line was made to equalize the rocket's internal pressure with the surroundings. This approach worked well enough for the rocket tanks to slowly release its pressure while the plane was ascending. However, when it was time for the plane to descend to Hawaii and the cabin depressurized, the small opening did not allow air to pass into the rocket tanks fast enough. Thus, the Falcon 1 imploded, right next to the supporting crew. Had the SpaceX crews were not onboard the flight, the Falcon 1 would be ditched to the sea.[1]^{: 183–189}

With only 30 minutes of fuel left and the rocket continued to crumble, the crew cut the shrink wraps with their knives and took the wrench in the toolbox. One of the crews crawled inside the Falcon 1's interstage (piece that connects the first and second stage of the rocket) with the wrench and detached a pressurization line inside, allowing air to pass inside. The crumbling oxygen tank was inflated back to shape, though it had sustained damages to its structure. The C-17 landed at the Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii at midnight; the SpaceX crews slept here because they forgot to book a proper resting location. The next morning, the crews and rocket took off from Hawaii and landed on an airstrip in the Kwajalein Atoll. A barge then carried the first stage of the rocket to the Omelek Island.[1]^{: 188–192}

Using a borescope, a slosh baffle was found detached from the tank body, and it was clear that the Falcon 1 needed a total disassembly. A 'proper' six-weeks long fixing procedure was proposed, but it was promptly rejected because by then, SpaceX would not have any funds and would be bankrupted. Another solution suggesting shipping back the rocket to the headquarters was also not viable for the same reason. The only viable option was to disassemble the rocket on the island itself, within one week. As the engineers were working on the rocket, a crew sen [1]^: 192-?

The Falcon 1 rocket was successfully test-fired on 20 September.[8] Launch preparations on 23 September led the ground crew to replace part of a pipeline supplying liquid oxygen to the second stage Kestrel engine. This work delayed the launch to 28 September.[9]