ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 19 (UPI) -- SpaceX plans another attempt to launch the company's second spy satellite mission for the U.S. government Saturday morning.
The Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for liftoff during a three-hour launch window starting at 9 a.m. EST from Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The U.S. Space Force forecasts only a 10% chance that clouds could cause a delay or postponement.
SpaceX aborted a previous launch attempt Thursday due to a slightly high pressure reading in an upper stage liquid oxygen tank on the rocket. The countdown stopped at 1 minute, 53 seconds before launch.
Andy Tran, a SpaceX avionics production supervisor, said during a live broadcast Thursday that the rocket and the payload were in good condition despite the abort.
As part of the launch, Elon Musk's company intends to land the first-stage booster of the rocket on a landing pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, about 10 miles south of the launch site.
The landing could generate a sonic boom heard in Central Florida, according to the company.
The company's first launch of a U.S. spy satellite, NROL-76, was in May 2017 for the National Reconnaissance Office, which is part of the Department of Defense. Most such missions have been conducted in recent years by United Launch Alliance.
The government says very little about classified missions such as the launch on Sunday, except that the rocket is carrying a "national security payload designed, built and operated by the agency ... to provide intelligence data to the United States' senior policymakers, intelligence agencies and the defense department."
The National Reconnaissance Office's mission is to provide information for intelligence requirements, research and development, and to assist in emergency and disaster relief.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMieWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnVwaS5jb20vU2NpZW5jZV9OZXdzLzIwMjAvMTIvMTkvV2F0Y2gtbGl2ZS1TcGFjZVgtcGxhbnMtYW5vdGhlci10cnktdG8tbGF1bmNoLVVTLXNweS1zYXRlbGxpdGUvMzEzMTYwODIzODQ0Ny_SAX1odHRwczovL3d3dy51cGkuY29tL2FtcC9TY2llbmNlX05ld3MvMjAyMC8xMi8xOS9XYXRjaC1saXZlLVNwYWNlWC1wbGFucy1hbm90aGVyLXRyeS10by1sYXVuY2gtVVMtc3B5LXNhdGVsbGl0ZS8zMTMxNjA4MjM4NDQ3Lw?oc=5
2020-12-19 13:06:23Z
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