SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch delayed again due to weather, ground issue
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — SpaceX faces another delay for the looming Falcon Heavy launch after a push from Monday for weather and encountering a ground side issue.
The Falcon Heavy launch is delayed after SpaceX’s announcement that they are standing down from Monday night’s launch due to a ground side issue. An attempt to launch on Tuesday night would be made during a 10-minute window that opens at 8:14 p.m. at KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A. The weather squadron forecasts a 60% chance for good conditions.
The delayed payload is the secretive X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle built by Boeing. It will be Falcon Heavy’s ninth launch, consisting of three Falcon 9 rockets strapped together, producing 5.1 million pounds of thrust on liftoff.
The spacecraft is an uncrewed vehicle that resembles a miniature space shuttle and is heading up for its seventh trip. Its previous missions have contributed to traveling more than 1.3 billion miles and spending over 3,774 days in space.
The payload also includes NASA’s Seeds-2 experiment aimed at exposing plant seeds to harsh radiation during the flight, aligning with NASA’s attempts to prepare humans for future trips to Mars and beyond.
While the exact details and operations of the X-37B remain classified, the Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman called the experiments “groundbreaking.”
The delayed launch is part of Falcon Heavy’s third mission for the Space Force within the last year. On a wider scale, the head of the Space Force’s Assured Access to Space program, Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, stated that teams have been resilient with the increased cadence of launches.
In addition to the Falcon Heavy launch, SpaceX also had a Falcon 9 set for launch and United Launch Alliance rolled its new Vulcan Centaur back out for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of its upcoming launch.
While the rescheduled launch of Falcon Heavy is still pending, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is set to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. Another 23 of SpaceX’s internet satellites are on board for the upcoming mission.