CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A top-secret spacecraft launch by United Launch Alliance was scrubbed Saturday for a third time due to an issue with a telemetry transmitter on the vehicle.
The launch was scrubbed Friday morning due to weather before ULA announced that the window for the third attempt would open at 3:59 a.m. Saturday. The third attempt to launch the Atlas V that would carry the NROL-52 spacecraft into orbit for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office was scrubbed around 1 a.m., just hours before it was set to launch.
#AtlasV #NROL52 launch scrubbed today due to an issue with a telemetry transmitter on the rocket.
— ULA (@ulalaunch) October 7, 2017
ULA officials said a new date for the mission that is considered top secret will be announced once it's determined.
The Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron had forecasted a 60 percent chance of favorable conditions for Saturday's planned 3:59 a.m. liftoff, according to News 6 partner Florida Today.
The weather odds are expected to improve to 70 percent "go" on Sunday, if a next launch attempt is possible that soon,
ULA may have one or two more opportunities available early next week before it must stand down for a SpaceX mission scheduled for Wednesday evening, ,Florida Today reported.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting a 6:53 p.m. Wednesday liftoff from Kennedy Space Center with a commercial communications satellite for SES and EchoStar.
Check back to ClickOrlando.com/space for full coverage.
LIVE COUNTDOWN UPDATES:
SATURDAY
1:07 a.m. SCRUB. ULA scrubs launch attempt for third time.
FRIDAY
4:34 a.m. SCRUB. ULA will reset for 24 hours later and try again Saturday.
4:30 a.m. At T-minus 97 seconds the countdown is holding due to weather violations. We're waiting to hear if ULA will try to reset a new launch time and reset the countdown clock to T-minus 4 minutes.
4:24 a.m. New countdown time to start at 4:31 a.m. after ULA completed a poll of all systems. Atlas V is "Go" for launch.
Just a reminder that after launch the livestream will end about four minutes in. This mission is for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office and its mission is considered top secret.
4:17 a.m. One of the weather violations has been cleared, but ULA has pushed the launch time to 4:28 a.m.
4:13 a.m. New launch time is 4:23 a.m. The window extends until 5 a.m. ULA is fighting bad weather moving in from a low depression hovering over the Atlantic this week.
4:08 a.m. Mission control continues to move the launch time in five-minute increments. The new launch time is 4:18 a.m., again due to poor weather conditions. The launch window extends until 5 a.m.
4:04 a.m. The new launch time is 4:13 a.m., because the liftoff window is in violation of two weather constraints. The Florida weather is not being kind this morning.
3:56 a.m. ULA extended the four-minute countdown hold due to weather. Atlas V will launch no earlier than 4:08 a.m.
3:45 a.m. Weather is no-go for Friday's 4:03 a.m. ULA launch, but all other factors are green..
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A top-secret spacecraft launch by United Launch Alliance was scrubbed due to weather in the early hours of Thursday morning. ULA CEO Tory Bruno said the company will try again Friday.
An Atlas V is scheduled to blast off at 4:03 a.m. Friday carrying the NROL-52 spacecraft for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. It’s the 16th launch contract for ULA with the national security agency.
The rocket was on the pad at launch complex 41 Wednesday ahead of the countdown. Air Force weather forecasters said the Atlas V had a 60 percent chance for “go” weather conditions Thursday, but just before 3 a.m. the launch was scrubbed due to ground winds.
ULA CEO Tory Bruno said the company will try again Friday. However, weather odds for Friday worsen at only 30 percent.
SpaceX delays satellite launch
SpaceX had plans to make it a busy weekend with two launches within 48 hours, one from Kennedy Space Center, the other in California, but SES officials said the first launch would be delayed until at least Wednesday.
A Falcon 9 with a previously flown booster was scheduled to launch a communications satellite Saturday for Luxembourg, the SES-11/EchoStar.
On Thursday, SES officials told SpaceFlightNow that the launch was delayed due to a possible technical issue with the rocket.
SpaceX later confirmed the delay but did not say what the cause was.
Post-launch the first-stage will once again return to Earth, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
It's becoming more common for Elon Musk's company to use refurbished "flight-proven" boosters than new hardware. That turnaround time from launch to reuse should rapidly decrease once SpaceX completes construction on a new booster storage and refurbishment factory in Port Canaveral.
Another Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch a fleet of 10 communication satellites Monday from the west coast.
SpaceX will launch Iridium Next satellites 31-30 at 8:37 a.m. EDT, 5:37 a.m. local time.
ClickOrlando.com and News 6 will livestream all three launches. Check back to ClickOrlando.com/space.