Scrub! SpaceX halts Falcon 9 launch countdown citing helium issue

On November 6, 2024By Littum

Scrub summary: Scroll down to review live updates from the Sunday, November 3 scrub of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch attempt from Cape Canaveral on the Starlink 6-77 mission.

Original story: Today marks the first mission of a SpaceX-NASA Sunday-Monday launch doubleheader, with two Falcon 9 rockets slated to lift off within a 24-hour span.

Welcome to the FLORIDA TODAY Space Team’s live coverage of this afternoon’s SpaceX Starlink 6-77 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX aims for 4:57 PM EST to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40. The Falcon 9 will deploy a batch of 23 Internet satellites.

No sonic boom is expected in Central Florida. After soaring into the sky along a southeast trajectory, the rocket’s first-stage booster will aim to land aboard a SpaceX drone ship out at sea about eight minutes after liftoff.

On Monday night, SpaceX and NASA will launch a Dragon capsule on an International Space Station resupply mission at 21:29 from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. These missions will be Space Coast’s record 75th and 76th orbital rocket launches in a single calendar year.

Update 17:34: The NASA-SpaceX CRS-31 launch is scheduled for Monday at 21:29 and it takes precedence on the Eastern Range calendar.

During a media teleconference last month, Tim Dunn, launch director with NASA’s Launch Services Program, said NASA has traditionally asked SpaceX to push back its Starlink lifts to create a “setback” period ahead of LSP missions so staff can review previous launch data. That way, they can spot potential aircraft anomalies.

SpaceX has yet to announce a new Starlink 6-77 launch time and date, early on the heels of today’s scrub.

Update 17:09: This afternoon, SpaceX officials announced that the Starlink 6-77 backup launch is set for 4:31 p.m. Monday.

If that time frame holds, the Falcon 9 would fly five hours before the SpaceX-NASA CRS-31 resupply mission to the International Space Station lifts off at 21:29 from Block 39A at the adjacent Kennedy Space Center.

“Standing down from today’s launch. Vehicle and payload are healthy,” SpaceX officials said in a 5:04 p.m. post-scrub tweet.

Update 17:03: During SpaceX’s abbreviated launch webcast, a countdown was announced, with the clock stopping 2 minutes and 36 seconds before liftoff.

“Hold, hold, hold. Stand down for helium stage one,” said a launch director.

Update 16:56: SpaceX has scrapped the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

No official explanation has been released.

Update 16:52: SpaceX’s launch webcast hosted on X (formerly Twitter) is now posted above just below the countdown clock.

Liftoff is scheduled in five minutes from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Update 16:42: This afternoon’s mission marks the third flight of the Falcon 9 booster’s first stage, SpaceX reported.

Young in SpaceX’s fleet, this booster previously launched Crew-9 and a Starlink mission.

After stage separation, crews expect the booster to land on the SpaceX drone ship. Just read the instructions in the Atlantic 8 minutes and 11 seconds after take off.

Update 16:32: Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at SpaceX’s upcoming countdown timeline. T-minus:

16 minutes: Second stage liquid oxygen filling begins.
7 minutes: Falcon 9 begins engine cooling before launch.
1 minute: Command flight computer begins final prelaunch check; propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins.
45 seconds: SpaceX launch director verifies “go” for launch.
3 seconds: The engine controller commands the engine’s ignition sequence to start.
0 seconds: Lift.

Update 16:21: SpaceX just announced that Falcon 9 fueling procedures will start soon at Launch Complex 40 — and “the weather looks good.”

That means today’s Starlink mission countdown will be locked to lift at 16:57 without delays, otherwise the launch must be postponed.

Update 16:12: The National Weather Service reported cloudy skies, a 10 mph east wind and an 80-degree temperature at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 15.55

To the north in New Smyrna Beach, where launch spectators gather near the shoreline, meteorologists reported partly cloudy skies and 81-degree conditions as of 1 p.m. 14.47 at the municipal airport.

Update at 16:00: Brevard County Emergency Management officials have activated the agency’s launch operations support team ahead of SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon 9 launch.

Update 15:45: The Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron is predicting a 90% chance of favorable weather for today’s launch, citing a high pressure system over the southeastern states.

“Onshore flow will be breezy through Sunday but should remain below launch window launch limitations … some isolated low-top showers will linger (Sunday),” the squadron’s forecast said.

Primary meteorological concerns: upwelling winds and cumulus clouds. The squadron also warned of a moderate risk of poor booster recovery weather out in the Atlantic.

Update at 3.30 p.m.: The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will remain open until 5:30 p.m., so participants can watch the upcoming launch from the tourist attraction’s Atlantis North Lawn, about 4 miles from the pad.

For the latest news and launch schedules from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.

Rick Neale is a space reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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