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We will all have to wait a little longer to see the Falcon Heavy fly again.
The third launch of the powerful SpaceX The rocket was postponed for at least two days, June 24 at the earliest, US Air Force officials announced today (June 7).
"At the moment, we are finishing part of the final integration as well as preparation and launch operations," Lt. Col. Ryan Rose told reporters at a teleconference today. Rose is Head of the Small Launch and Goals Division of the Launch Systems Business Branch, based at the Space and Missile Systems Center at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.
"For the moment, we will probably not go until June 24 to carry out these activities," she added. "We want to make sure we are ready for a successful launch."
Related: In Photos: NASA's Historic Launch Zone 39A, from Apollo to Shuttle, via SpaceX
The upcoming mission, known as STP-2, was scheduled for June 22. She will depart from the historic Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The four-hour launch window opens at 23:30. EDT (0330 GMT 25 June).
The US Army plans to launch its Advanced Advanced High Frequency (AEHF-5) satellite on June 27 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, next to KSC. Thus, if STP-2 can not meet its new target date, the mission may have to wait until the end of AEHF-5, Air Force officials said.
"The range is quite crowded over this period," said Walter Lauderdale, director of the STP-2 mission, Falcon Systems & Ops Division, at today's teleconference.
STP-2 is managed by the Air Force through its space test program (the "STP" in STP-2). The mission will launch two dozen satellites, one of which NASA Atomic Clock and LightSail 2, a solar navigation demonstrator built by the Planetary Society, a non-profit organization.
The Falcon Heavy consists of the first three modified stages of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. A second step and the payloads are at the top of the central servomotor.
These first three steps are all designed to be reusable. Indeed, STP-2 will incorporate the two side boosters of the last Falcon Heavy flight, which lofted the ArabSat-6A communication satellite.
During this mission in April 2019, both reinforcement groups made their landings at Cape Canaveral Air Base. The central core has also been successful, landing on a "SpaceX drone ship" at sea. But this reminder spilled on the way back to shore, victim of a rough sea.
The other previous flight of Falcon Heavy took place in February 2018. During this demonstration mission, the rocket launched the red Tesla Roadster and founder of SpaceX, the CEO of Elon Musk, with his model pilot, Man of stars, orbiting the sun.
Meghan Bartels, Senior Writer for Space.com (@meghanbartels) contributed to this story. Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there"(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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