For the fourth time in as many days, SpaceX has been forced to postpone its launch of 24 broadband satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, with poor weather again spoiling Sunday’s attempt from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Credit: SpaceX
The mission, designated KF-02, has faced a string of setbacks since its first scheduled launch on Thursday. Technical issues with the Falcon 9 rocket halted countdowns on Thursday and Friday, while unfavorable weather conditions scrapped attempts over the weekend.
On Sunday morning, hopes for liftoff were dashed just 90 seconds before launch, when the SpaceX launch director announced:
“We have no-go conditions on recovery weather… We will be standing down at T-minus 30 seconds. At 3-0 seconds we will be calling ‘hold.’”
Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 is now rescheduled for Monday at 8:35 a.m. EDT (12:35 UTC), with a 27-minute launch window. The 45th Weather Squadron has given the attempt a 75% chance of favorable weather, though recovery conditions for the booster remain a “moderate” risk. Meteorologists warn that a stationary front lingering over northern Florida could bring elevated winds and scattered showers near the drone ship recovery zone.
The booster for this mission, tail number B1091, is a converted Falcon Heavy core flying as a Falcon 9 for the first time. SpaceX says it will be used for several Falcon 9 missions before being reconfigured as a Falcon Heavy center core.
If weather permits, the Falcon 9 will head northeast, with the first-stage booster aiming for a landing on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas just over eight minutes after launch. A successful recovery would mark the 120th landing on that vessel and the 486th booster landing overall.
Roughly eight-and-a-half minutes into the mission, the second stage will insert the Kuiper payload into an initial parking orbit before a short burn at T+53 minutes circularizes the orbit. Satellite deployment is set to begin just under 57 minutes after liftoff.
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