Elon Musk’s SpaceX Postpones Launch of First Air Force Mission

The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Lucas Nolan

Elon Musk’s space exploration and rocket development company SpaceX has been forced to postpone its first mission for the U.S. Air Force following odd sensor readings.

Elon Musk’s company SpaceX has been forced to postpone the launch of a rocket as part of its first ever mission for the U.S. Air Force due to an “out of family reading on first stage sensors,” according to the company. SpaceX planned to launch the United States Air Force’s first Global Positioning System III space vehicle today and even planned to livestream the event, which was hastily canceled following reading errors. Vice President Mike Pence was scheduled to attend the launch.

SpaceX explained the decision to cancel and reschedule the launch in a tweet which reads: “SpaceX team called a hold due to an out of family reading on first stage sensors. Vehicle and payload remain healthy; next launch attempt is tomorrow at 9:07 EST, 14:07 UTC.”

The launch was meant to feature one of the company’s Falcon 9 “Block 5” boosters which had modifications added since their reveal in May aimed at making the first stage easier to recover and reuse. The rocket was set to take off from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad. The satellite payload carried by the rocket is worth more than a half-billion dollars.

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