Monday, January 7, 2019

SpaceX's Next Launch From Vandenberg Delayed

Hawthorne-based rocket launch and spacecraft developer SpaceX has delayed its next, West Coast launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, from tomorrow--Tuesday--to an indefinite future date. The delay comes as another storm system is expected through the Central Coast through the end of the week. SpaceX had planned a launch of the Iridum 8 mission, carrying the Iridum Next 66-75 satellites on Tuesday morning. No new date for that launch has yet been announced. Another spaceflight provider, ULA, has been stalled out since early December for its own Vandenberg launch, and also has not yet provided a new launch date. ULA has been bitten both by multiple technical issues, as well as weather, for its own launch efforts. The ULA is attempting to launch a Delta IV rocket. SpaceX is launching its Falcon 9 in its own launch from Vandenberg. The last successful launch from Vandenberg was in early December, when SpaceX launched a rocketload of "small satellites" on the Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express mission. Image: an earlier SpaceX rocket readied for launch.