Despite no rockets heading to space this weekend from the Eastern Range, it was still quite a busy weekend for both SpaceX and Blue Origin at Cape Canaveral.
First up on deck was SpaceX and Falcon 9 out at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for the Astranis “From One To Many” mission. After a couple of short pushes to later in the evening, T-0 was set for midnight on Saturday morning.
The countdown seemed smooth and without incident, but when Falcon 9 ignited its engines, there was an immediate shutdown and a launch abort. Due to the nature of Falcon 9’s propellants, a scrub for the evening was called immediately.
SpaceX has not disclosed what caused the shutdown to happen, but as of Sunday morning, Falcon 9 is horizontal on the launch mount at SLC-40. Both rocket and payload are safe, and SpaceX’s team is working to remediate the issue(s) that caused the shutdown. They have not announced a new launch day/time for the next attempt for this mission.
Blue Origin Continues Wet Dress Testing of New Glenn
Over at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, Blue Origin continued testing New Glenn as it prepares for the first launch of the company’s first orbital rocket.
Throughout the day and early to the evening, Blue’s team conducted a Wet Dress Rehearsal for New Glenn, and at times a Static Fire of the first stage seemed imminent: the venting would stop, flame from burn-off stacks would diminish, while ice was falling off of the rocket. But, alas, it was not meant to be.
The status and outcomes of the Wet Dress Rehearsals have not been released by Blue Origin. Given that New Glenn remains upright and that no statement of any potential delays have been announced, optimistically, things seem to be going well.
No timelines for any potential static-fire or launch attempts have been given. Aside from successfully completing prelaunch operations and a static fire of New Glenn, Blue Origin still needs a launch license from the FAA before it can send New Glenn on its debut flight. Given that Blue Origin has said that they are planning to launch this year, it will need to come soon — and the Christmas holiday looms next week.
Both Blue Origin and SpaceX Are Staying Busy At Port Canaveral
A quick look at Port Canaveral saw no SpaceX automated drone ships in port, but both of their support ships, Bob and Doug, were moored at the SpaceX docks.
Booster B1090 is on the dock awaiting transportation to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility at Kennedy Space Center, and by all appearances, that move will be made quite soon.
Only a few yards to the northwest, Blue Origin’s booster landing ship Jacklyn and its support ship, ‘Harvey Stone’ were also in port.
Next Launch
SpaceX is on deck for Starlink 12-2.
- Date: NET December 23, 2024
- Organization: SpaceX
- Mission: Starlink 12-2
- Rocket: Falcon 9
- Launch Site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center
- Launch Window: 12:35 AM – 3:21 AM EST
- Payload: Telecommunications satellites
