Update: SpaceX said Wednesday morning it needed more time to evaluate the cause of Tuesday’s launch scrub. “Standing down from today’s launch attempt of GPS III SV01 to further evaluate out of family reading on first stage sensors; will confirm a new launch date once complete,” SpaceX tweeted at 6:32 a.m. Eastern Wednesday.
JACKSONVILLE — SpaceX on Tuesday scrubbed the Falcon 9 launch of the Air Force’s first GPS 3 satellite. The next opportunity is Wednesday morning but the commander of the 45th Space Wing said Tuesday afternoon that he was “not confident” Falcon 9 will be cleared by then for a second attempt.
“We saw some sensors today that gave us a little bit of an alarm so we decided to hold the launch at that time,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Douglas Schiess said during a media teleconference call Tuesday afternoon. Also, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Lt. Gen. John Thompson, the commander of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center.
The Air Force is forecasting acceptable weather Wednesday morning at Cape Canaveral, Florida, but Schiess said the Air Force and SpaceX were working through some technical issues that could further delay the launch.
SpaceX spokesman James Gleason did not respond to an email seeking comment. In a statement immediately after Tuesday’s scrub, SpaceX blamed sensor readings for the scrub and said the launch team would try again Wednesday. “SpaceX team called a hold due to an out of family reading on first stage sensors,” SpaceX said via Twitter on Tuesday. “Vehicle and payload remain healthy; next launch attempt is tomorrow at 9:07 EST, 14:07 UTC.”
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Posted on December 19, 2018 in Space News, Space Travel
