Winds push SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch to 8:26 p.m.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – Though its side boosters might look dirtier than they should be after all of those scrubs, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket is set to launch the ViaSat-3 Americas mission Sunday evening from Kennedy Space Center.
The rocket was originally scheduled to go up from Launch Complex 39A during a 57-minute launch window that opened at 7:29 p.m.
SpaceX now says it is pushing the launch toward the end of the window because of ground winds. The new launch time is 8:26 p.m.
According to the 45th weather squadron, the Falcon Heavy launch has an 80% chance of experiencing favorable weather conditions. SpaceX relayed the optimistic forecast on Twitter, adding that launch systems were looking good.
Team is resetting the countdown clock to the end of the launch window due to ground winds. Targeting 8:26pm ET for liftoff of Falcon Heavy — SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 30, 2023
[TRENDING: Much quieter weather pattern for Central Florida in the week ahead | 3 juveniles hurt, 1 critical after shooter fires into crowd outside Dezerland, Orlando police say | Become a News 6 Insider]
The launch was delayed from Saturday to Sunday due to severe weather in the forecast at the time. All of that followed a scrub on Friday and another on Thursday, also due to the weather, and a delay from Wednesday to review data.
Making up the rocket’s two payloads are a ViaSat-3 communications satellite and a small communications satellite named Arcturus, the latter unit deployed on behalf of Astranis.
We should note that our lede about the side boosters was a joke referencing the two scrubs and two delays that this Falcon Heavy configuration has already had to deal with, but their appearance may have something to do with their respectable operational history. One side booster being used Sunday was previously launched for Arabsat-6A, STP-2, COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2, KPLO and three Starlink missions, while the other booster supported Arabsat-6A and STP-2, according to SpaceX.
ClickOrlando.com will stream the launch live at the top of this story when coverage begins.
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Source: WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
