Jan 31, 2022, 10:50 AM

SpaceX delays launch of Italian satellite again

TEHRAN, Jan. 31 (MNA) – The SpaceX launch of the Italian satellite has been delayed, again, due to t a cruise ship in the no go area in which the Coast Guard was unable to stop.

SpaceX has had to delay the launch of an Italian Earth-observation satellite yet again, but this time Mother Nature was not to blame.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was all set to loft the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2) satellite from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday (Jan. 30) at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT). But a cruise liner wandered into the "no-go zone" downrange of Cape Canaveral, and the ship couldn't be moved in time for the Falcon 9 to hit its window.

"The vehicle is still healthy; the payload is healthy," SpaceX production manager Jessie Anderson said during a webcast of today's launch attempt. "Everything was looking good for an on-time liftoff today, aside from the range."

It was the fourth consecutive day that SpaceX was stymied in its attempt to launch the CSG-2 satellite.

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News Code 183448