SpaceX Falcon 9 Return To Flight Launch Delayed Until Jan. 14 Due To Weather
By Space Coast Daily // January 8, 2017
high winds and rain in weather forecast
ABOVE VIDEO: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the pad during a static test firing on Sept. 1, 2016 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Sation. (USLaunchReport video)
Iridium Communications announced on Sunday via Twitter that high winds and rain in the forecast at Vandenberg Air Force Base has delayed the SpaceX return to flight for the Falcon 9 rocket until Jan. 14.
SpaceX is set to launch 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into Earth orbit. Iridium said in their Tweet the back up date for launch will be January 15:
“With high winds and rain in the forecast at Vandenberg Air Force Base, the first launch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites is now planned for January 14th at 9:54:34 am PST with a back-up date of January 15th.”
High winds and rain in forecast at VAFB. First launch of #IridiumNEXT now planned for January 14th at 9:54:34 am PST. #NEXTevolution.
— Iridium Corporate (@IridiumComm) January 8, 2017
SpaceX has announced last week that the return to flight for the Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California would be be postponed one day from the originally scheduled Sunday, January 8 liftoff.
This will be the return to flight for SpaceX after a fiery explosion destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket on the pad during a static test firing on Sept. 1, 2016 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Sation’s Space Launch Complex 40.
A post-accident SpaceX investigation revealed the cause of the Falcon 9 explosion was that one of three composite overwrapped pressure vessels in the second stage tank failed.
The reason was a buckled liner that caused liquid oxygen to build up. The buildup of liquid oxygen, friction, and a spark led to an explosion that destroyed the rocket.
SpaceX’s investigation scoured 93 milliseconds of video and telemetry data, which was the amount of time between the first signs of trouble and when the second stage exploded and destroyed a satellite owned by Facebook.
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