SpaceX, which is led by Musk, hopes to launch one of its Falcon 9 rockets Sunday night at 6:46 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida – and this will be the company’s third attempt to do so since Wednesday, February 24. Now SES announced the new launch schedule for the SpaceX SES 9 mission. In the event this attempt is also delayed, the rocket company is planning for Monday to be a backup launch day, as the weather is also expected to be clear. But on Thursday, the launch is suspended again, 2 minutes before firing.
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“Out of an abundance of caution, the team opted to hold launch for today to ensure liquid oxygen temperatures are as cold as possible in an effort to maximize performance of the vehicle”, SpaceX said in a statement”.
Though it aims to make the Falcon 9 more efficient, the new propellant appears responsible for the delays, as the company struggles to nail down the timing of chilling the liquid oxygen and loading it onto the rocket within a 30-minute window before launch.
SpaceX has not yet confirmed its plans, saying only that it is reviewing data and the next available launch date.
Wednesday’s countdown was halted about a half-hour before the launch window opened, before the liquid oxygen was loaded onto the 230-foot rocket.
The rocket is to carry a satellite for Luxembourg-based SES into orbit that will help telecommunications and broadcasts in Asia. The time kept aside for the launch is 6:46 PM eastern time.
There was no immediate word on when SpaceX might try again.
SES has more than 50 satellites already in orbit and the launch of SES-9 will expand its capacity, company officials said. In the past SpaceX has tried several such landings onto barges located in the ocean, with limited success.
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The goal is to make rocket flights more affordable by recovering and then reusing rocket stages. In addition to that, using cryogenic fuel on the SpaceX rocket gives the company a “bit more breathing room” when attempting first stage rocket landings.
