SpaceX Delays Falcon 9 Launch Over Payload Fairing Concerns
SpaceX has once again postponed the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket in order to perform tests on the rocket's nose cone. Unlike previous delays, no new launch date has been announced.
The rocket was previously scheduled for launch last Sunday, Feb. 25, at 12:35 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. However, the private space firm decided to scrap the launch saying it needed extra time to test the rocket's payload fairing.
"Standing down from this weekend's launch attempt to conduct additional testing on the fairing's pressurization system," the company's representatives wrote on Twitter. "Once complete, pending range availability, we will confirm a new targeted launch date."
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CEO Elon Musk revealed the company's plans to secure the fairings post-launch. He compared them to a pallet carrying $6 million falling from the sky representing significant savings for the company should they be recovered and reused.
The Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch the Spanish Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite into orbit. Due to commercial nature of the launch, it's understandable why the company is taking extra precaution to test its payload fairings as the clamshell-like nose cone protects satellites during flight.
The Hispasat 30W-6 is expected to provide television, broadband and other communications services to Hispasat customers across Europe, America, and North Africa. The satellite will serve as a replacement for the Hispasat 30W-4 satellite and will circle the Earth in a geosynchronous orbit in the 30-degrees west position. The Hispasat 30W-6 is designed to last 15 years in orbit.
SpaceX previously carried out another mission for Spain, launching the Paz Earth radar-imaging satellite into orbit last Thursday. The company also launched two prototype satellites for their Starlink broadband internet during the mission.
SpaceX might have little time to complete its fairing tests however as NASA is set to launch the new GOES-S weather satellite from Space Launch Complex 41 later next week. Should they fail to launch the rocket within the next few days, the company will have to wait until NASA concludes its launch.
