No Fourth of July rocket launch for SpaceX – Orlando Sentinel

People will have to rely on regular old fireworks on the Fourth of July over Cape Canaveral as SpaceX will wait at least a day before it tries for a third time to launch a satellite aboard its Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center.

Elon Musk tweeted, "We're going to spend the 4th doing a full review of rocket & pad systems. Launch no earlier than 5th/6th. Only one chance to get it right."

When the company does try again, the rocket will lift off from launch pad 39A, the 102nd mission to launch from that historic complex that was home to Apollo and space shuttle missions.

The payload for the mission is a satellite for Luxembourg-based company Intelsat. The satellite built by Boeing is part of Intelsats next generation constellation of satellites, the fourth sent up by the company. The new satellites are geared to offer higher quality Internet service and mobile communications.

Both previous attempts to launch the rocket on Sunday and Monday nights were scrubbed just 10 seconds before planned liftoff by automated computer systems.

Sundays scrub was due to a computer guidance problem. The reason for Mondays scrub was still being determined Tuesday.

If there is a successful launch this week, there will be no attempt to recover the first stage rocket booster, which has been a hallmark of many SpaceX launches from Cape Canaveral. The satellite payload has to be placed into a higher orbit, meaning more rocket fuel will be used, and no chance for recovery.

If it launches, it will be the third rocket launch for the Hawthorne, California-based company in two weeks. The company launched a Bulgarian satellite from Kennedy Space Center on June 23 as well as 10 satellites on June 25 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

While it wasnt able to put a rocket into space on Monday, SpaceX did welcome home the Dragon cargo capsule from the International Space Station. The splashdown in the Pacific Ocean marked the completion of the first reused commercial spacecraft to be sent to and returned home from the space station.

The Dragon capsule launched from Kennedy Space Center on June 3 and undocked from the ISS on July 2. The same capsule made its first trip to the ISS three years earlier. The reuse of the capsule and reuse of the rocket boosters by the company are part of its efforts to drive down launch costs.

SpaceX's cargo capsule is the only supply ship able to survive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

The planned launch, when it happens, will be the 11th from Cape Canaveral from all companies in 2017.

rtribou@orlandosentinel.com, 407-420-5134

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No Fourth of July rocket launch for SpaceX - Orlando Sentinel

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