SpaceX delays Falcon 9 rocket launch, but now confirms for February 21

For those uninitiated, the initial launch was scheduled for February 17. However, Elon Musk-run space agency delayed the launch, saying more time was needed for final checks of the Falcon 9 rocket’s upgraded payload fairing

SpaceX took to social media to tweet, “Team at Vandenberg is taking additional time to perform final checkouts of an upgraded fairing. Payload and vehicle remain healthy,” the Space agency said. “Due to mission requirements, now targeting February 21 launch of PAZ,” SpaceX added.

SpaceX

✔@SpaceX

Team at Vandenberg is taking additional time to perform final checkouts of upgraded fairing. Payload and vehicle remain healthy. Due to mission requirements, now targeting February 21 launch of PAZ.

8:58 PM - Feb 17, 2018

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According to Space.com, the Falcon 9 rocket will send Musk’s first Starlink broadband satellites and the Paz radar-imaging satellite for Spain into orbit. The Starlink satellite aims to provide low-cost Internet access on a global scale.

SpaceX is expected to launch two prototype satellites, called Microsat-2a and Microsat-2b, as part of its Starlink broadband satellite constellation. The American aerospace manufacturer has kept mum about many of the details relating to Starlink, but the company’s business plan calls for putting thousands of communication satellites in orbit, with limited service starting by 2020, media reported.

The primary payload on Falcon 9 rocket is the 3,000-pound Paz. According to a report at Nasaspaceflight.com, the Paz satellite – named after the Spanish word for ‘peace’ – will be launched into a 514 km circular orbit. 

While the date of the launch is clear, the California-based space agency, however, is yet to confirm the time of the launch.