Update 1:47 p.m. EDT: SpaceX is standing down from a launch attempt on Wednesday due to poor weather
For a second day in a row, poor weather is causing SpaceX to stand down from a launch attempt of the Astra 1P satellite to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on behalf of one of its oldest customers: Luxembourg-based SES. The decision came after a weather-related launch scrub on Tuesday.
Following the West Coast launch of the Starlink 9-1 mission Tuesday night, SpaceX hoped to launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:35 p.m. EDT (2135 UTC). However, weather proved to be an insurmountable hurdle once again.
SpaceX is now targeting liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:35 p.m. EDT (2135 UTC) on Thursday, June 20.
When it’s able to proceed, the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, tail number B1080 in the SpaceX fleet will launch for a ninth time. It previously supported the launches of two private astronaut missions for Axiom Space (Ax-2 and Ax-3), the European Space Agency’s Euclid observatory and four Starlink missions.
About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1080 will land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ If successful, this will make the 84th booster landing for JRTI.
Coming into the Wednesday night launch attempt, the 45th Weather Squadron forecast only a 30 percent chance of favorable weather during the nearly three-hour launch window, with both liftoff winds and cumulus clouds being primary concerns. Another area of concern was conditions in the booster recovery area which were rated a moderate to high risk. According to public weather data, 11-ft seas and 30 mph winds were forecast in the Atlantic Ocean where the drone ship is stationed, 420 miles east of Cape Canaveral.
“Dominant easterly flow will continue through the rest of this week as an easterly wave draws nearer,” the forecast stated. “Wind speeds will be in the 25-30mph range for a Wednesday night launch attempt, with gusts potentially reaching 35-40mph within any shower activity.”
The 24-hour backup scenario on Thursday is slightly better with conditions forecast to be 40 percent favorable for a launch from Florida’s Space Coast. Liftoff winds become less of a concern, but meteorologists believe anvil clouds may play a prominent role.
SpaceX is working its way through a rare stretch of time without a Falcon 9 launch. Its last launch from the Cape will be 11 days prior, if it manages to launch the Starlink 9-1 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 18.
The last time there was a gap of this many days between Falcon 9 launches from Florida was between the launches of Starlink 6-33 on Dec. 7, 2023, and Starlink 6-34 on Dec. 19, 2023. Since the latter mission, SpaceX launched 65 orbital missions, one of which was a Falcon Heavy rocket.
Kiko Dontchev, the vice president of Launch at SpaceX, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) about the ignition scrub during the Starlink 10-2 launch attempt on Friday. Without going into detail, he said that what prevented the launch was “a real issue,” which would require SpaceX to “go inspect the hardware in detail on this vehicle.”
“This will be the first week we’ve gone without a Falcon Launch in a long time. Unplanned downtime due to weather or unexpected issues happens, it’s how we respond that matters,” Dontchev wrote. “The launch business takes grit and when things go wrong, our true form comes to life. Bring it on!!!”
Welcome back, SES
Onboard what will now become SpaceX’s 62nd Falcon 9 launch of 2024 is the Astra 1P satellite, which is also referred to as SES-24. The Luxembourg-based telecommunications company is a long-time customer of SpaceX’s launch services.
In fact, the first payload that a Falcon 9 launched to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) was SES-8 on Dec. 3, 2013 on the seventh of the rocket.
The forthcoming Astra 1P satellite continues a legacy of television satellites in the Astra 19.2°E group that goes back to Astra 1A, which launched in 1988. There are currently four satellites in use within this orbital position: Astra 1KR, Astra 1L, Astra 1M and Astra 1N.
Astra 1KR and Astra 1L were manufactured by Lockheed Martin, while Astra 1M and Astra 1N were built by Astrium (now Airbus Defene and Space). In 2021, SES contracted Thales Alenia Space to manufacture Astra 1P and Astra 1Q.
Both Astra 1P and Astra 1Q will feature direct-to-home (DTH) functionality, but the latter will also be “customizable on orbit and can be deployed easily to other orbital positions.”
“Our prime TV neighborhood at 19.2°E is one of our most valuable assets and has been key to enabling renowned European broadcasters to grow their TV audiences in the last 30 years. These two satellites will have the resiliency, reliability and redundancy that our video customers need, and will be able to deliver continued premium services well into 2040,” said Steve Collar, the former CEO of SES, in a 2021 statement. “Additionally, thanks to advanced satellite technology, we will be future-proofing our investment and injecting a high degree of flexibility into ASTRA 1Q to ensure we are meeting the evolving needs of all the markets we serve.”
ASTRA 1P is our 12th dedicated mission with @SES_Satellites, having first launched SES-8 in 2013, followed by the first reflight of Falcon 9 during SES-10, and most recently, the third O3B mPOWER mission last year pic.twitter.com/YS6OjUrTNf
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 19, 2024
Prior to launch, in a recorded statement, Adel Al-Saleh, the current CEO of SES, said Astra 1P is designed to replace the four satellites currently stationed at the 19.2°E position.
“This satellite will serve some of our largest media customers, like Sky, Canal+, Telefónica and RTL to deliver the valued, high quality content to their customers,” Al-Saleh said. “And it will also address the growing demand of sports and events, so that customers, like the NFL and various football leagues, can easily distribute their content across Europe.”
