Wednesday, November 28, 2018

SpaceX Delays Satellite Launch Mission From Vandenberg

Hawthorne-based SpaceX has just delayed its upcoming satellite launch mission--of the Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express--due to the incoming weather system into California. According to SpaceX, the launch is being delayed to extreme high-altitude winds that violate its Range requirements. The mission had been scheduled to launch on Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, north of Santa Barbara. An incoming storm system is expected to drop a significant amount of rain in Northern and Central California, with varied amounts across Southern California; that system brings with it high winds, which affect rocket launch conditions. The Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express is expected to launch 64 "cubesat" satellites, collected together by space ride arranger Spaceflight, for over 35 customers. The payload includes University of North Carolina-Wilmington, NovaWurks, Ghalam, Helios Wire / Sirion Global, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB), Astrocast, Honeywell Aerospace, HawkEye 360, Nevada Museum of Art, Fleet Space Technologies, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Audacy, Capella Space Corporation, University of Colorado Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and many others.