The SpaceX owned Falcon 9 should have been launched last June 20, but multiple delays were experienced and prevented the rocket from taking off. The plan is to launch six commercial communication satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, according to officials.
Situated on the rockets are six small satellites owned by Orbcomm Inc., which provides data and messaging services to machines worldwide.
According to the details of the launch delays released by SpaceX, which was founded by the tech industry's golden boy, Elon Musk, the space transportation company has been attempting to launch since Friday, but has failed every day since. The launch would have marked the 10th time SpaceX has sent a Falcon 9 rocket to space. Aside from being used to transport satellites up into orbit, the Falcon 9 is used to transport valuable cargo to the International Space Station on behalf of NASA.
The SpaceX launch last weekend was delayed yet again due to problems with the weather. Moreover, the team also had difficulties with a glitch in the upper-stage engine, though the team is not entirely sure. It was the same problem that caused a delay in the first place, so there is a chance the engineers did not fully come to grasp with the problem.
The next launch is set for the first week of July, and hopefully the launch will proceed without technical problems and bad weather. If the problems still persist though, it could cause a major problem for SpaceX when trying to land partners in the future.
Furthermore, a successful SpaceX launch could save NASA billions, as it wouldn't need to work on its own rockets to bring astronauts to space.
"SpaceX will stand down Tuesday while our engineering teams evaluate further, which will also allow the Range to move forward with previously scheduled maintenance. We are currently targeting the first week of July and will work with the Range to confirm the next available launch opportunities," stated SpaceX.
SpaceX isn't only in the business to work with NASA. The company is pursuing to do business with the U.S. Military in hopes to break the monopoly by United Launch Alliance, which is a partnership by both Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
