’Technical difficulties’ delay SpaceX rocket launch. When will it blast off now?
If you got up early Friday expecting to see a rocket blast across Central Coast skies, you were likely disappointed.
Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc was expected to launch a National Reconnaissance Office mission aboard a SpaceX rocket Friday morning, but the launch was delayed.
According to the National Reconnaissance Office, the rocket did not take off as scheduled at 6:41 a.m. due to “technical difficulties.”
“Safely launching the mission remains our highest priority, and updates will be made when available,” the department tweeted Friday morning.
A tweet by SpaceX around the same time said the delay would allow “teams to complete pre-launch checkouts and data reviews.”
The rocket is now expected to launch Sunday at 6:13 a.m.
Initially after the announcement of the delay, projections were for a Saturday launch, but that was changed to Sunday due to excessive upper level winds forecasted that day, SpaceX said.
The launch is the second one using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket that was procured through a National Security Space Launch contract to launch from the Western Range.
Following the launch, the mission’s first stage will return to land on Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg, which could create multiple sonic booms, according to a SpaceX news release ahead of the delayed launch.
This story was originally published April 15, 2022 at 10:34 AM.
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