SoylentNews

17/07/03/0442229 story

SpaceX Scrubbed Sunday Launch Attempt; Today's Retry Scrubbed, Too [Updates: 3]

posted by Fnord666 on Monday July 03 2017, @11:30PM   
from the well,-it-IS-rocket-science dept.

martyb writes:

[Update 3: The launch attempt had a hold at T-10 seconds. Because they were at the end of the launch window for this launch attempt, that effectively translated to being a scrub of today's launch attempt. Depending on what the analysis reveals, as well as weather and range considerations, the next launch attempt may be as early as tomorrow: July 4th. --martyb]

[Update 2: Launch now delayed because of weather according to this tweet:

Pushing T-0 to 8:35 p.m. EDT, 00:35 UTC for weather. Vehicle and payload remain in good health in advance of the @INTELSAT 35e launch.

--martyb]

[Update 1: according to this tweet:

New T-0 of 8:07 pm EDT, 00:07 UTC for weather. Vehicle and payload look good--all systems go for launch of @INTELSAT 35e.

For those who would like to follow along, a hosted live stream on YouTube is available. I have been unable to locate a non-youtube live stream; please reply in the comments if you find one. Please also comment if you find a technical webcast of this launch. --martyb]

In an update to a story announcing SpaceX's Sunday 19:36 EDT scheduled launch, Ars Technica now reports:

7:45pm ET Sunday update: The weather cooperated just fine on Sunday evening, near sunset in Florida, but the rocket did not. With just 10 seconds to go before liftoff, the on-board computers detected some issue within the rocket's guidance, navigation, and control system. At that point the flight computers stopped the countdown just before the engines were ignited. This forced a 24-hour scrub.

If it can diagnose and fix the problem, SpaceX will make a second attempt to launch the Intelsat 35e satellite on Monday, with the launch window opening at, or around, 7:37pm ET.

There is no indication that the 58-minute launch window has changed. For those not in the Eastern United States, the new launch window starts at 23:37 UTC on Monday, July 3.

---

Original Submission

• Comment Below Threshold

  Musk Sucks (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 03 2017, @06:37PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 03 2017, @06:37PM (#534532)

  I've seen Gattaca and there were a dozen launches a day. It's 20 years later and SpaceX can't even manage one launch a day. Pathetic.

• No Attempt to Recover Booster No Attempt to Recover Booster (Score: 2) by martyb on Tuesday July 04 2017, @12:08AM (1 child)

  by martyb (76) on Tuesday July 04 2017, @12:08AM (#534617) Journal

  According to Ars Technica [arstechnica.com]:

  With a mass of 6,761kg, the Intelsat 35e communications satellite is the heaviest payload SpaceX has ever launched to geostationary orbit, about 36,000km above the Earth's surface. For this reason, the rocket will not have enough fuel reserves to attempt a safe return to Earth—even to a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. This booster, therefore, will be expended.

  This will be SpaceX's 10^th launch of 2017, and the company has been especially busy [arstechnica.com] as of late. A launch Monday would be the company's third flight in just 10 days, and fourth since June 3. By way of comparison, the most successful launches the California rocket company has had in any year, prior to this one, is eight. And it's only July.

  I can't wait to see their launch cadence when they start launching their low-Earth orbit constellation of comm satellites for global internet access!

  --
  Wit is intellect, dancing.

  • Re:No Attempt to Recover Booster (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 04 2017, @12:30AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 04 2017, @12:30AM (#534620)

    I can't wait to see their launch cadence when they start launching their low-Earth orbit constellation of comm satellites for global internet access!

    I can't wait to gain access to the satellite constellation for global free internet so I can stream a video of Gattaca through it!

    Parent