SpaceX scrubs Starlink launch attempt
ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX was set to try to launch its next batch of Starlink satellites Saturday with a couple of Earth observation satellites along for the ride, but pulled the plug about 90 minutes before the planned liftoff.
“Standing down from today’s launch of the tenth Starlink mission to allow more time for checkouts; team is working to identify the next launch opportunity. Will announce a new target date once confirmed with the Range,” SpaceX said on its Twitter account.
The planned launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A was set for 10:54 a.m.
Weather had forced SpaceX to delay a previous attempt Wednesday, one that had already been pushed back several times since June.
The main payload of 57 small satellites remain the 10th mission in the company’s plan to place an array of thousands of internet-providing satellites into space, and would have been the third in just more than a month. This new batch would have brought the company close to 600 active satellites.
Also on board as part of the company’s new rideshare program are two satellites from Seattle-based company BlackSky Global. When deployed, they would have been the fifth and sixth satellites for the company as part of its global monitoring constellation. SpaceX has lined up more than 100 spacecraft from customers hitching rides on future launches.
Mission plans had been to the deploy the two BlackSky Global satellites just more than an hour after liftoff with the Starlink satellites following suit about a half hour later.
SpaceX would also have attempted to recover its first-stage rocket, which has already been used for four previous missions including the first Crew Dragon demonstration flight in 2019. After stage separation, SpaceX would have tried to land it on the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Atlantic Ocean and return it to Cape Canaveral.
The new Starink satellites are equipped with deployable visors the company uses to now block sunlight from hitting their brightest spots, an attempt to address concerns from astronomical groups upset about light pollution in the night sky.
Last month’s Starlink launches took place on June 3 and 13, and SpaceX has said they want to average two missions a month across all of its customers, including crew and cargo flights to the International Space Station.
The company has a Falcon 9 launch lined up for Tuesday at 5 p.m., according to spaceflightnow.com. That one from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is to put a South Korean military satellite into orbit. The 45th Space Wing issued a forecast for that launch attempt, putting chances at only 30% to 50% for good weather on launch day taking into account a nearly four-hour launch window, but with an improving forecast of 50% to 60% in the event of a 24-hour delay.
“The trough of low pressure that extends down the eastern seaboard and across Florida will remain nearly stationary through early next week, resulting in continued unsettled weather,” the Space Wing forecast said. “Showers and thunderstorms are likely each day in this pattern, especially during the afternoon and early evening.”
Those issues cite cumulus clouds and lightning that could violate launch parameters.
“Still, the pattern suggests that the weather later in the launch window is likely to be more favorable on both launch day and 24-hour delay dates,” the forecast said.
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