SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s space mission
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was due to launch from Florida today — carrying more Starlink satellites into orbit.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket mission has been aborted just seconds before lift-off for what would have been its record-tying 16th flight.
The Falcon 9 was to carry a payload with 54 Starlink satellites. The countdown to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida started about 2.30pm AEST (0440 GMT).
However, the mission was aborted about 40 seconds before lift-off. It’s not yet clear why the mission was put on hold, but there are many variables that can go wrong.
Things didn’t go to play today, but SpaceX has a back-up launch date of Saturday, July 15 at 4.15 UTC.
After its mission, the Falcon 9 was due to land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The reusable, two-stage 70m rocket is designed for the transport of people and payloads into orbit and beyond.
It’s powered by a Merlin rocket engine, which uses rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen.
The rocket weighs 549,054kg and has a diameter of 3.7m.
Its main claim to fame is being the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket - which saves a lot of money.
Previously, the rocket has launched GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6, and 10 Starlink missions, according to the SpaceX website.
Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite internet company and provides internet access to people around the world.
Elon Musk, who owns SpaceX, had his mind on other things before the aborted launch, namely his potential upcoming fight against fellow tech billionaire and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
“There is a time to laugh and a time not to laugh, and this is not one of them,” Elon Musk wrote on Twitter — which he also owns.
“For fighting preparation, I’ll use technique of famous Inspector Clouseau & have Cato attack me at random moments,” he added.
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