Monday, December 11, 2023

No Double Launch Tonight (Dec. 11)

Tonight's double SpaceX launch is off.  These were to be the Falcon Heavy USSF-52 mission first and then a Falcon 9 Starlink mission a bit under three hours later.   NASA Spaceflight's coverage just posted this: 

The SpaceX Tweet on X says there was "a ground side issue" while the vehicle and payload are "healthy."  Next attempt no earlier than tomorrow.  

As I was typing this, NSF changed the bars in the upper left corner to show both missions have been scrubbed.  No launch at all tonight.

As of 8:30, SpaceX's launches website has both launches set for Tuesday night at pretty much the same times:  FH and USSF-52 at 8:14 and Starlink 11:02.  Starlink was 11:05 tonight and FH was the same time. 

I'm not highly optimistic about the rest of the week after Tuesday because the long range weather forecasts aren't looking good, but the next couple of days should allow launches.  I don't think the forecast 20mph winds violate launch criteria, but visibility is nice to have.



3 comments:

  1. Can't control the weather. Yet.
    Darn it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FH is NET Wednesday now, 8:13 PM EST (0113 UTC). The Starlink mission is currently set for tonight at 11:00 PM EST (0400 UTC). We won't be able to see anything either night due to pretty much 100% cloud cover.

      We're going into about five days of messy weather. Winds will be worst Wednesday through Friday and rains will be worst Saturday and Sunday. All that said, it's not unusual for this time of year, just annoying.

      Delete
    2. Weather weather weather weather weather.
      Whether or not, we're together.

      Delete