SpaceX delays Falcon Heavy X-37B launch and Starlink window to Monday as storms approach
Facing a stormy weather forecast, SpaceX is pushing back its Falcon Heavy rocket launch by 24 hours to send the mysterious Space Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle on its next secret mission.
SpaceX is now targeting 8:14 p.m. EST Monday to launch a triple-core Falcon Heavy from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on the USSF-52 national security mission.
The Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron pegs the odds of "go for launch" weather at 70% Monday night, compared with only 40% tonight as a "vigorous" cold front sweeps across the Space Coast, spawning shower activity, winds and cumulous clouds.
"The team will use the time to complete additional pre-launch check outs," SpaceX said of the postponement in a tweet this morning.
Meanwhile — though SpaceX has yet to confirm this mission — a Starlink launch window originally scheduled for tonight has also moved back 24 hours, a Federal Aviation Administration navigational warning indicates.
The new Starlink window extends from 11 p.m. Monday past midnight to 3:31 a.m. Tuesday. Details: A Falcon 9 rocket will carry another batch of Starlink internet satellites into low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The 45th Weather Squadron predicts 75% favorable odds for this Starlink 6-34 mission.
For the latest launch schedule updates at the Cape, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX Falcon Heavy X-37B launch from NASA's KSC moved to Monday night
