SpaceX Delays Launch of Falcon 9 Carrier Rocket With Starlink Satellites
SpaceX has cancelled the planned launch of a Falcon 9 carrier rocket with 60 Starlink satellites.
“Auto-abort at T-1:24 ahead of tonight’s Falcon 9 launch of Starlink; next launch opportunity is tomorrow, March 1 at 8:15 p.m. EST [03:15 GMT on Tuesday],” SpaceX said on Twitter on Sunday.
Auto-abort at T-1:24 ahead of tonight’s Falcon 9 launch of Starlink; next launch opportunity is tomorrow, March 1 at 8:15 p.m. EST
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 1, 2021
The company did not specify the reasons behind the delay.
The Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to lift off from the Cape Canaveral (Kennedy) Air Force Station in Florida at 01:37 GMT (7:07am) on Monday.
The mission aims to put 60 Starlink satellites into orbit. If successful at its next launch opportunity, it will expand SpaceX’s fleet of broadband relay satellites to include over 1,200 (some of them are prototypes that are no longer in service).
The Starlink project seeks to provide affordable access to broadband Internet connection across the world.
Earlier in February, SpaceX reportedly completed an equity funding round of $850 million (roughly Rs. 6,190 crore) that sent its valuation to about $74 billion (roughly Rs. 5,39,000 crore).
SpaceX raised the funds at $419.99 (roughly Rs. 30,600) a share and the latest funding round represents a jump of about 60 percent in the company’s valuation from its previous raise, which valued it at $46 billion (roughly Rs. 3,35,000 crores), as per the report.
A prototype of SpaceX’s Starship rocket, the SN9, exploded earlier in February during a landing attempt after a high-altitude test launch in a repeat of an accident that destroyed a previous test rocket.
The Starship SN9 prototype was a test model of the heavy-lift rocket being developed by the company to carry humans and 100 tons of cargo on future missions to the Moon and Mars.
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