Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

Poor weather could postpone historic SpaceX launch

Trevor Mogg
By

SpaceX and NASA are gearing up for a historic mission today, but poor weather conditions around the Kennedy Space Center in Florida could cause the launch to be postponed.

The Weather Channel said that stormy weather conditions over Florida could force SpaceX to switch the launch time from the currently scheduled 1:33 p.m. PT. As of Wednesday morning, there’s a 60% that favorable weather conditions will remain around Kennedy Space Center, allowing the launch to proceed.

Recommended Videos

As of 9:30 a.m. PT, the launch hadn’t been scrapped. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted, “We are go for launch!”

Related

The much-anticipated mission will see astronauts take their place for the first time in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. It’ll also be the first astronaut launch from U.S. soil since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011. But as always with long-planned space missions, lousy weather could cause unwanted disruption on launch day.

“A tropical disturbance that has brought heavy rain to southeastern Florida the past few days will have pushed north of the state by Wednesday,” the Weather Channel said. “But Florida’s typical late-May warmth and humidity will remain in place, making hit-or-miss afternoon thunderstorms possible near Kennedy Space Center in the hours near launch time.”

It also noted how the weather systems for the whole of the U.S. and Canadian coasts to the North Atlantic Ocean need to be stable in case astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley need to perform an emergency escape procedure, which would see the Crew Dragon ejected from the Falcon 9 rocket, due to an anomaly in the minutes after launch.

NASA has various launch weather criteria to ensure a safe rocket launch. They include, for example, “Do not launch for 30 minutes after lightning is observed within 10 nautical miles of the launch pad or the flight path, unless specified conditions can be met.”

If the launch has to be postponed due to poor weather, SpaceX has backup launch windows for Saturday, May 30 at 3:22 p.m. ET, and Sunday, May 31 at 3 p.m. ET.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
SpaceX says it could fly Starship on Friday, but it depends on one thing
The Starship, comprising the first-stage Super Heavy and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft, on the launchpad at SpaceX's facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX has said it could be in a position to perform the second launch of its next-generation Starship rocket this Friday, though it added that it can only happen once it’s received the nod from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“Starship preparing to launch as early as November 17, pending final regulatory approval," SpaceX said in a recent post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Read more
How to watch SpaceX deliver cargo and experiments to the ISS this week
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon capsule soars upward after lifting off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 14, 2022, on the company’s 25th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 8:44 p.m. EDT. Dragon will deliver more than 5,800 pounds of cargo, including a variety of NASA investigations, to the space station. The spacecraft is expected to spend about a month attached to the orbiting outpost before it returns to Earth with research and return cargo, splashing down off the coast of Florida.

This week will see a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft blast off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and head for the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver supplies and research to the crew there. The launch is scheduled for this Thursday, November 9, after having been rescheduled from earlier in the week to allow time for additional prelaunch checks.

If you'd like to watch the launch and docking of the SpaceX Dragon, NASA will be live-streaming those two events via its NASA TV channel, and we have the details on how to watch below.
What to expect from the launch
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon capsule soars upward after lifting off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 14, 2022, on the company’s 25th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Another such launch is scheduled for November 9. NASA/Kim Shiflett

Read more
World’s most powerful rocket clears safety review for next test launch
SpaceX's Super Heavy and Starship.

SpaceX has taken a major step toward the second test launch of the most powerful rocket ever to fly after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had finished its safety review, which looks at the extent to which the launch might pose a hazard to public health and nearby property.

The Super Heavy rocket and the Starship spacecraft -- collectively known as the Starship -- flew for the first time in April this year, but the uncrewed vehicle suffered an anomaly minutes after launch, which led to it exploding in midair.

Read more