SpaceX's relaunch for its Falcon 9 rocket has been delayed once more due to bad weather. This would have been its first launch since the launch-pad explosion last Sep. 1.
The Los Angeles Times reported that high winds and rain will be experienced at the Air Force base on the Central Coast until Thursday. SpaceX took to Twitter to announce that the launch will be moved to Jan. 14, Saturday.
SpaceX was all-set for a relaunch on Sunday. All they needed was the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Elon Musk and his company have confirmed that the explosion last September was caused by extremely cold liquid oxygen that have pooled in the buckles inside the composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) used by the rocket. Because of breaking fibers or friction, oxygen that pooled in the buckles may have been ignited.
SpaceX has admitted that it will be changing the design to the COPVs to prevent buckles. This will also make loading operations faster.
Just last week, the FAA has finally given Elon Musk and SpaceX the go signal to resume launches for its Falcon 9 rocket. The relaunch, which has previously been scheduled on Sunday, Jan. 8, has been moved to Monday, Jan. 9.
SpaceX has already loaded up 10 Iridium satellites which will be acting as relay stations for the telecom's mobile voice and data network. It was reported that the 10 satellites from Iridium are the first out of 81 spacecraft that the company will be sending to space.
According to Spaceflight Now, Vanderberg's range has been booked by the United Launch Alliance this week. It is set to be used for a countdown rehearsal for an Atlas 5 mission for a U.S. government satellite which will be launched on Jan. 26. It was added that SpaceX has already conducted a major preflight test on Thursday.
