July 21 (UPI) — SpaceX will delay Thursday’s Starlink launch, an attempt by the company to beat its record of 31 launches in 2021 with a 32nd launch this year, until Friday because of fog.
The countdown to launch was aborted seconds ahead of the Falcon 9 rocket’s planned launch of 46 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from the from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The lift off of the two-stage Falcon 9 rocket at 1:39 p.m. EDT (10:39 a.m. local time) was set to be live streamed at Space.com or through SpaceX’s YouTube channel on Thursday, but has now been re-scheduled to the same time on Friday.
SpaceX did not give a reason for the delay, but in a tweet, 30 minutes before the planned launch, it said that it was scheduled to go ahead “despite the fog.”
If the Elon Musk-founded company succeeds Friday, it will beat its record of 31 launches from Florida and California last year. A backup opportunity is available on Friday at the same time, according to SpaceX.
After stage separation, Falcon 9 will return to Earth to land on the SpaceX “Of Course I still Love You” droneship in the Pacific Ocean.
U.S. Space Force Lt. Col. Brian Eno, commander of the 1st Range Operation Squad, part of Space Launch 45, told UPI earlier this year it anticipates 66 launches in 2022 from Florida alone.
On Sunday, SpaceX launched 53 Starlink satellites to orbit from a Falcon 9 rocket at launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite Internet service, which now has more than 2,800 satellites.
Thursday’s launch of the Starlink Group 3-2 will be its fourth Starlink launch this month.
The 32nd launch will also set a record for the California launch pad’s turnaround time, at 10 days and 14 hours after the same pad supported Starlink 3-1, Teslarati.com reported. The last record was 22 days and 11 hours between the Germany’s SARah-1 radar satellite and Starlink 3-1.
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