SpaceX Starlink is set to unveil a new fleet of Internet satellites on Thursday (February 17) due to a “recovery issue” related to the mission’s Falcon 9 rocket.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket 60 new Starlink satellites were to be unveiled at 2:19 p.m. Thursday from NASA’s historic Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:19 p.m. But 15 minutes before the planned liftoff, SpaceX scrubbed the mission.
SpaceX representatives “stand down from today’s Starlink launch due to recovery issues; vehicle and payload remain healthy,” SpaceX representatives said. Announced a Twitter update. “The next launch opportunity is tomorrow, September 18, at 1:57 pm EDT, but we are keeping an eye on the weather.”
You can watch the launch live 15 minutes before the lift here, courtesy of SpaceX, here and on the homepage of Space.com. You will be able to see the launch directly through SpaceX.
Related: SpaceX’s Starlink satellite launches in megacons installation photos
SpaceX did not specify the format of the “recovery issue”, but it is likely related to the company’s plans to recover the first phase of a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket by landing it in the company’s drone ship “Just Read the Instructions”. Atlantic Ocean. Good weather is required on the floating landing pad to ensure a safe landing.
U.S. According to the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, the Pad 39 had a 30% chance of a bad weather affecting the lift off fun earlier this day. On Friday the weather forecast will rise sharply, with a 70% chance of unfavorable conditions due to thick clouds.
Recovering the Falcon 9 rocket booster is a key part of SpaceX’s plan to reduce costs while increasing the company’s launch speed. The first phase of the Falcon 9 on this mission has flown twice before this year. It launched SpaceX’s Demo-2 astronaut mission for NASA in May, then flew again in July to launch South Korea’s military satellite Anasis-2.
SpaceX has launched 16 missions so far in 2020, this flight, called Starlink 12, will be the 13th Starlink mission since 2019.
SpaceX has launched more than 700 Starlink satellites into orbit around the globe designed to provide high-speed broadband internet access around the world. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, said the company initially plans to build a constellation of 1,400 satellites, with between 500 and 800 required for initial service.
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