High winds ground Falcon Heavy
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket with Arabsat-6A encapsulated on top awaits liftoff at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. The flight is now expected no earlier than April 11. Photo Credit: Michael Howard / SpaceFlight Insider
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Higher than acceptable upper level winds prompt mission managers at SpaceX to postpone the launch of the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket.
The massive rocket, which was being prepared to launch sometime between 6:35 p.m. and 8:32 p.m. EDT April 10 (22:35 GMT April 10 and 00:32 GMT April 11), 2019, is now expected to lift off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A no earlier than the evening of April 11 with the window opening at the same time.
The forecast for April 11 is expected to have a 90 percent chance of acceptable conditions during the launch window with the only concerns being cumulus clouds. However, this prediction does not take into account upper level wind speeds.
Being orbited by the Falcon Heavy is Arabsat-6A, a Saudi Arabian satellite destined for geostationary orbit. The 13,000-pound (6,000-kilogram) satellite is designed to provide television, internet and phone services to customers throughout the Middle East and northern Africa for a planned period of 15 years.
Derek Richardson
Derek Richardson has a degree in mass media, with an emphasis in contemporary journalism, from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. While at Washburn, he was the managing editor of the student run newspaper, the Washburn Review. He also has a website about human spaceflight called Orbital Velocity. You can find him on twitter @TheSpaceWriter.
