SpaceX once again had to delay the launch of an Italian Earth observation satellite, but this time Mother Nature was not responsible.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 . rocket It was ready to launch the Cosmo-SkyMed second generation satellite (CSG-2) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Sunday, Jan. 30 at 6:11 p.m. EDT (2311 GMT). But a cruise ship cruised into the “exclusion zone” below Cape Canaveral, and the ship could not be moved in time for the Falcon 9 to reach its window.
“The car is still healthy; the cargo is healthy,” SpaceX Production manager Jesse Anderson said during the webcast of today’s launch attempt. “Everything looked good to take off on time today, except for the range.”
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withdraw from the launch of the second generation COSMO-SkyMed FM2 due to the ship being in the danger zone; The team is preparing for the next opportunity tomorrow, January 31 at 6:11 PM ESTJanuary 30 2022
The next launch opportunity is on Monday (January 31), also at 6:11 PM EST (23:11 GMT). You can watch the attempt, which will include the first stage landing of the Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral shortly after liftoff, here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly through the company.
Today was the fourth day in a row that SpaceX had to pull out of its CSG-2 launch attempt. The first three scrubs were caused by bad weather, but today Mother Nature has teamed up. Anderson said the weather also seems right for tomorrow’s attempt.
The Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation Program is a collaboration between the Italian Space Agency, the Italian Ministry of Defense and the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Scientific Research. The network consists of two satellites that study our planet using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR).
The first CSG spacecraft was launched in December 2019, into orbit from French Guiana atop an Arianespace Soyuz rocket. This satellite orbits Earth above the poles at an altitude of 385 miles (620 kilometers), the same orbit that CSG-2 will have when it finally lifts off.
Mike Wall is the author of ” the least (Great Grand Publishing House, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), A book on the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow him on Twitter Tweet embed. Follow us on Twitter Tweet embed or on Facebook social networking site.
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