The liftoff of five NASA satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base won’t occur before Friday after another delay.
On Tuesday afternoon, NASA representatives confirmed the launch window would open as soon as 7:09 p.m. Friday. The team reportedly plans for the first-stage booster to return to Vandenberg, touching down just west of the Space Launch Complex-4 East.
The launch previously had aimed for Thursday night, but slipped another day “due to the availability of a launch opportunity on the Western Range,” NASA officials said. It’s not clear what conflict exists for Vandenberg’s launch schedule.
On Monday, officials announced the mission had slipped from Tuesday to Thursday.
“The additional time will allow teams to complete vehicle processing and prelaunch checkouts,” according to NASA’s vague statement Monday afternoon.
The SPHEREx mission (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) will map the universe seeking signs of key ingredients for life in our galaxy.
The PUNCH mission (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) with four suitcase-sized satellites will observe the sun’s corona as it transitions into the solar wind, which can affect power grids and communication systems on Earth.
NASA representatives also remained tight-lipped about the delay for the West Coast mission until late Monday afternoon.
“The agency will share more information as soon as possible,” NASA representatives said Sunday and repeated Monday morning.
NASA and SpaceX initially targeted a Feb. 27 launch for the mission, but the team delayed the launch three times before the newest postponement.
Those delays were attributed to the team needing more time to complete pre-launch chores, to ensure the vehicle’s readiness ahead of liftoff and to evaluate launch vehicle hardware data.
Launch delays happened occasionally, but multiple postponements for a SpaceX rocket’s departure remain unusual amid the firm’s high-pace rate of liftoffs.
The new delay doesn’t appear related to troubles following a launch and landing from Florida.
Monday morning, SpaceX revealed the anomaly that occurred after the launch of Starlink satellites at 6:24 p.m. PST from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The mission marked the fifth flight for the first-stage booster on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.
“Following the successful landing, an off-nominal fire in the aft end of the rocket damaged one of the booster’s landing legs which resulted in it tipping over,” SpaceX representatives said on social media.
“While disappointing to lose a rocket after a successful mission, the team will use the data to make Falcon even more reliable on ascent and landing.”
The Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, beyond confirming receipt of a media query, remained mum Monday about whether any type of investigation was required into the landing trouble for the Florida mission.
Prior to Elon Musk ascending to his high-ranking government role, a first-stage booster falling over would prompt a pause in missions to assess the issue and ensure it wasn’t a glitch affecting the entire fleet.
The FAA also didn’t require an investigation when pieces of a Falcon upper stage landed in Poland following a Vandenberg launch Feb. 1.