March 29, 2024

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Failure to Launch; SpaceX rocket launch postponed due to inclement weather

SpaceX will reschedule Falcon 9 rocket’s mission to send 60 Starlink communication satellites into orbit for the fourth time

Photo by Laurenz Heymann on Unsplash

Just 30 seconds before liftoff yesterday, SpaceX grounded a Falcon 9 rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Falcon 9 completed all of its pre-launch sequencings, including loading liquid oxygen, before the launch’s cancellation.

Mere seconds were left before the engine controller would have commanded the rocket’s engine ignition sequence to begin.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 mission, scheduled for 10:22 a.m., was aborted due to overcast skies and inclement weather. This the third time during the previous week that this mission’s launch was postponed. A new target launch date has not been announced yet.

American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk. The company’s headquarters are in Hawthorne, California.

SpaceX said the Falcon 9 rocket would send 60 Starlink communication satellites into orbit. Upon completion of this mission, SpaceX will have close to 800 Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit.

According to the latest update on SpaceX’s website, the company is standing down from its launch attempt of 60 Starlink satellites due to unfavorable weather conditions. SpaceX will announce a new target launch date once confirmed, and Falcon 9 will lift off from the launch complex 39A (LC- 39A) at Kennedy space center in Florida.

Falcon 9’s first stage previously supported Dragon’s First flight crew to the International space station with NASA astronauts on board and the ANASIS – II mission. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” drone ship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. One of Falcon 9’s fairing halves supported two previous Starlink launches.

SpaceX’s ultimate goal is to have tens of thousands of Starlinks providing internet connections to people living in suburban, rural, underserved communities globally.

Additionally, the company intends the Starlinks to help fund CEO Musk’s vision of reducing space transportation costs to enable human beings to colonize planet Mars.

By Sara Brittany Somerset

By Sara Brittany Somerset

Sara Brittany Somerset is a United Nations & cannabis correspondent based out of New York, NY.

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