July 19 (UPI) — With only seconds remaining in the countdown late Tuesday, SpaceX aborted the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with a payload of Starlink satellites.
The mission was to deploy 15 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit where they were to join the thousands of other orbitals making up the company’s Internet-emanating constellation.
However, with only 5 seconds before the scheduled lift off at 10:25 p.m. from Space Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, the mission was scrubbed.
“There are thousands of ways a launch can go wrong and only one way it can go right,” Zach Luppen of SpaceX said during the live broadcast.
“Given that, we are overly cautious on the ground and if the team or the vehicle sees anything that just looks even slightly off, they’ll stop the countdown.”
He added that the vehicle and the payload “are in good health.”
Standing down from tonight’s Falcon 9 launch of @Starlink; now targeting Wednesday, July 19 for liftoff— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 19, 2023
Though a foggy night in Santa Barbara County, weather did not appear to be a problem for the launch and no reason for the abortion was given.
A backup opportunity has been prepared for 9:09 p.m. PT Wednesday.
The launch was to be SpaceX’s 48 of the year and 247 all time.
