Late on Friday (April 28), a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with three satellites failed its attempt to launch. SpaceX called off the launch of its heavy-lift Falcon Heavy rocket at 8:26 p.m. EDT (00:26 GMT) from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Although the rocket’s 27 first-stage engines—nine on each of its three core boosters—were about to fire, it did not do so.
The first thing that comes to mind is,
What is the reason behind the cancellation of the Falcon Heavy rocket launch?
Well, it is still not known what led to the cancellation. However, there is a probability that the abortion was due to the weather condition. The Falcon Heavy Rocket launch scheduled for later this year will be SpaceX’s sixth use of the heavy-lift rocket since its introduction in 2018. ViaSat-3 Americas, a 14,000-pound (6,400 kilogram) satellite built for the California-based business Viasat to provide broadband services, is the rocket’s main payload for this mission.
In addition, the rocket is carrying two smaller satellites: the tiny communications cubesat GS-1 made by Gravity Space in Washington and Arcturus, the first satellite produced by the Astranis firm.
Now, let’s see,
What do experts say about the mission’s attempt?
“We did call an abort at T-59 seconds. The vehicle and payload remain healthy,” SpaceX propulsion engineer Atticus Vadera said after the abort. “Keep in mind, the purpose of the countdown is to help us catch potential issues prior to flight. There are thousands of ways to launch a rocket and there’s only one way that it can go right.”
You should also know that,
Will non-reusable core boosters impact SpaceX’s long-term sustainability goals?
Although, like their smaller Falcon 9 counterparts, Falcon Heavy rocket’s are intended to have reusable first stages that land, SpaceX does not intend to reuse the core boosters from this mission in order to use the propellant typically reserved for landing to deliver its massive payload into orbit.
Now about,
Falcon Heavy Rocket Epic Sixth Launch Attempt:
After an aborted first attempt, SpaceX plans to launch its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket for the sixth time ever this coming Sunday (April 30), and you can catch all the action as it happens. Sunday, April 30 has a 57-minute launch window opening at 7:29 p.m. EDT (23:29 GMT) for SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy Rocket attempt.
If you are wondering,
Where I can stream the launch?
At SpaceX, you can watch the launch live. The webcast from SpaceX should start around 15 minutes prior to launch. After being delayed by weather for days, the Falcon Heavy Rocket is set to take off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:29 p.m. EDT (23:29 GMT). It will be taking three satellites into a faraway orbit called geostationary orbit. On April 28, a launch attempt failed 59 seconds before liftoff.
