Photo: Mark Stone / Florida Media Network
This evening, SpaceX announced the date for the next attempt to launch Falcon Heavy carrying USSF-52 / X37-B from Kennedy Space Center: December 28th. After announcing the date, SpaceX added on their website that the planned launch window extends from 7:00pm – 11:00pm that night.
Weather and technical issues have caused multiple delays since the original planned launch date. After a weather scrub last Sunday, December 10th, SpaceX delayed with less than an hour left on the countdown clock, citing “ground side issues.” It then planned for a Wednesday, December 13th launch date but then decided Tuesday, December 12th that it needed more time to ensure the spacecraft is flight-ready. December 28th is the next launch date SpaceX has named since then.
Anyone who has spent much time on the Space Coast and has followed launch campaigns knows well that delays are part of the business, and that they can happen at any time prior to the rocket leaving the launch pad heading for space. One of NASAs earliest pioneers and lead engineers dating back to the days of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, V.L. Pinson Sr., perhaps put it best decades ago when he said,”no one remembers a scrub a week later. No one will forget a failed launch.”
photo: Charles Boyer
Falcon Heavy will launch USSF-52, consisting of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle for the United States Space Force, as well as a variety of other tests, including NASA’s Seeds-2 experiment. That will investigate the effects of radiation on plant seeds during spaceflight. X-37B is a Boeing-built winged spacecraft that will be embarking on its seventh mission in orbit, or OTV-7 in USSF parlance. It’s stated mission is to test its capacities to change its orbital regime as well as materials test for the Space Force.
An Interesting TV Angle?
If Falcon Heavy launches in the first of its planned 7-11pm ET launch window on December 28th, it will likely get live national coverage via an unlikely source: The 2023 PopTarts Bowl in Camping World Stadium in Orlando starts at 5:45pm local time and the game will overlap the launch window for at least the first half. With any kind of clear skies, Falcon Heavy’s flight will be clearly visible from inside the stadium. TV loves that sort of thing so count on them showing it. The game will be aired live on ABC-TV.