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SpaceX canceled the launch of its next fleet of Starlink satellites late Sunday (November 22), delaying a potentially record-breaking flight for the mission’s Falcon 9 rocket.
A Falcon 9 rocket was poised to make its seventh launch (a record for the reusable booster) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida when SpaceX canceled the mission. Takeoff was scheduled for 9:56 PM EST (0256 GMT) to bring 60 Internet Starlink satellites into orbit.
“Forgoing the launch of Starlink today”, SpaceX said in a Twitter update. “The rocket and payload are healthy; the teams will take longer to complete the data reviews and are now working on the backup opportunity on Monday November 23 at 9:34 pm, but keeping an eye on recovery weather conditions.”
Related: See the evolution of SpaceX rockets in pictures
SpaceX was just over 30 minutes away from launch when the mission was canceled.
“Here, here, here,” the SpaceX launch director said in a live audio webcast from Mission Control. “We are withdrawing from today’s attempt to further guarantee the mission.”
Sunday’s launch attempt followed in the wake of the successful launch of the Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Saturday. That mission launched the Michael Freilich Sentinel-6 ocean mapping satellite for NASA and the European Space Agency, and soon after it landed its first booster stage.
Today’s planned launch would mark SpaceX’s 23rd launch of 2020 and the 100th historic flight of a Falcon 9 rocket. It is also SpaceX’s 16th Starlink mission to build a massive constellation of high-speed Internet satellites in orbit.
The first Falcon 9 stage for this flight was first launched in September 2018, when it carried the Telstar 18 Vantage communications satellite into orbit. It flew again in January 2019 to bring 10 Iridium Next satellites into orbit, and then four more times this year on several Starlink missions.
After launching today, the booster was due to return to Earth again to land on SpaceX’s drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Atlantic Ocean. Weather conditions for the planned recovery could affect plans for another launch attempt on Monday.
SpaceX’s current Falcon 9 rockets, called the Block 5 series, are designed to fly at least 10 times, if not more, the company said.
Email Tariq Malik at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @tariqjmalik. Follow us on @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
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