SpaceX delays rocket launch from Vandenberg

The Space Exploration Technologies Falcon 9 rocket launch planned for Sunday from Vandenberg Space Force Base has been delayed.

Liftoff of the booster from Space Launch Complex-4 on the South Base had been planned between 10:34 a.m. and 11:34 a.m. Sunday.

SpaceX has not explained the reason for the delay, and a new launch date has not been released.

The rocket was set to carry dozens of Starlink satellites, in the second mission for the SpaceX effort to build an Internet constellation in space.

The first hint of a delay occurred earlier this week when a vessel connected with the launch ended up returning to port.

Vandenberg officials also lifted the mariners’ notice issued for Sunday morning warning boaters to remain out of the ocean area near the southern end of the base where the launch pad is located.

The launch of the West Coast’s first Falcon 9 rocket carrying 51 Starlink satellites occurred in September from Vandenberg.

Dozens of similar launches have occurred from Florida in recent years as the firm continues to build its constellation to provide high-speed Internet service aimed especially at customers in rural and remote areas around the world.

Along with Starlink, the Falcon 9 rocket has a NASA mission on its manifest for this fall.

NASA has dubbed the Double Asteroid Redirect Test, or DART, as a planetary defense mission designed to test drive technologies for preventing an impact of Earth by a hazardous asteroid. DART will be the first demonstration.

After missing the DART’s first planetary window for launch to ensure that the spacecraft is placed where it’s needed in space, the team will target the secondary opportunity spanning from late November into mid-February.

Liftoff is planned for 10:20 p.m. Nov. 23, the first chance in that planetary window.

This story was originally published October 17, 2021 at 11:11 AM.