’90s News: SpaceX Weather, Cocoa Village Hotel, Crash Arrests
FLORIDA TODAY’s Rob Landers brings you some of today’s top stories in a 90-second news segment.
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SpaceX canceled the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a European communications satellite on Wednesday, well before the scheduled 5:25 p.m. launch. The company said it was targeting the same launch time on Thursday, which also has a 2 hour, 49 minute launch time. Weather remains a concern.
SpaceX claims that weather at the launch and recovery sites was the primary reason for the early cancellation. The Space Coast woke to an overcast morning with intermittent rain and gusty winds. Clear skies cleared in the afternoon, but forecasts predicted more rain and steady winds off the Atlantic Ocean. The Space Force’s weather service predicted only a 30 percent chance of favorable conditions for launch. The launch, scheduled for Tuesday, was canceled due to weather.
A series of SpaceX launch cancellations means the Space Coast is currently experiencing a rare launch drought. The last launch from Cape Town was a Starlink launch on Friday, June 7.
When it launches, Astra-1P/SES-24 will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40. However, the weather corps said there is a 60 percent chance of bad weather on Thursday.
There will be a backup opportunity at the same time on Friday.
When is the next Florida launch? Is there a launch today? SpaceX, NASA, and ULA scheduled rocket launches in Florida
The communications mission was brought forward on SpaceX’s schedule after the company was forced to cancel the Starlink 10-2 mission, which was canceled before launch following back-to-back launch cancellations due to bad weather last Friday. SpaceX opted to move its troubled Falcon 9 rocket aside because it could only use Space Launch Complex 40, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES U satellite is headed to SpaceX’s other launch pad, Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
The Astra 1P/SES-24 payload is a communications satellite for the Astra partnership with European communications organisation SES. Thales Alenia SpaceSES provides satellite television services in Germany, France and Spain. According to its website, Astra Satellites have provided television and radio to Germany since 1988.
Check back with the FLORIDA TODAY space team for regular launch coverage updates.
Brooke Edwards is Florida Today’s space reporter. She can be reached at bedwards@floridatoday.com or X: @brookeofstars.