Weather forces SpaceX to delay weekend launch from Cape Canaveral

Emre Kelly, Florida Today
·2 min read
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Update: Liftoff of Falcon 9 at 8:32 p.m. EST! The rocket boosted Hispasat's Amazonas Nexus communications satellite to orbit then landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.Read our full post-launch story here.

Update: Citing poor weather at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, SpaceX has decided to delay this launch to no earlier than the evening of Monday, Feb. 6. Conditions for the 5:32 p.m. EST liftoff were forecasted to be much more favorable – 90% "go" – during the four-hour window at Launch Complex 40. Live updates will kick off at floridatoday.com/space starting at 4 p.m. EST.

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Weather forecasters, citing the possibility of scattered showers, are projecting iffy conditions for SpaceX's next launch of a commercial communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

If schedules hold, SpaceX teams at Launch Complex 40 are likely to face 55% "go" conditions during a four-hour window that opens at 5:32 p.m. EST Sunday, Feb. 5. Space Force forecasters also said recovery of the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage on a drone ship was likely to be "high risk" due to rough conditions in the Atlantic Ocean.

"Although there still remains uncertainty among the models, moisture and scattered showers will push back into the area by Sunday afternoon," Space Launch Delta 45 forecasters said Friday. "While some dry air in the mid-levels will likely cap off deeper development, there is a threat for a cumulus cloud rule violation due to the scattered showers, and to a lesser degree, a thick cloud layers rule violation."

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with the GPS III-6 mission on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with the GPS III-6 mission on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023.

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In the event of a delay to Monday due to weather or technical reasons, conditions are expected to dramatically improve to 90% "go." Drone ship recovery conditions look better, too.

Secured in the rocket's payload fairing is Amazonas Nexus, a roughly 10,000-pound commercial communications satellite owned by Spanish operator Hispasat. Once in orbit some 22,300 miles above Earth, it will provide coverage to the Americas, Greenland, and the north and south Atlantic.

After liftoff Sunday, the 230-foot rocket will fly an eastern trajectory before touchdown on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship.

The Eastern Range's schedule beyond Feb. 5 is up in the air. A SpaceX Starlink mission could fly from the Cape as soon as Feb. 11, but that remains to be seen as the company has not yet filed plans with federal agencies that oversee launch activities.

For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Weather forces SpaceX to delay weekend launch from Cape Canaveral