SpaceX postpones next Starlink satellite fleet launch due to rocket camera issue

By Tariq Malik
published

The issue involves a camera on the Falcon 9 rocket's upper stage.

SpaceX called off the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 Starlink satellites on Oct. 22, 2020 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Here, the first stage of that Falcon 9 launches a previous Starlink mission from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 3.
SpaceX called off the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 Starlink satellites on Oct. 22, 2020 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Here, the first stage of that Falcon 9 launches a previous Starlink mission from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 3. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX called off the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 new Starlink internet satellites Thursday (Oct. 22) due to mission assurance concerns. 

The Falcon 9 rocket (opens in new tab) was less than 15 minutes from liftoff when flight controllers scrubbed the flight. The launch was scheduled for 12:14 p.m. EDT (1614 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. 

"Standing down from today's launch of Starlink to allow additional time for mission assurance work: will announce next launch opportunity once confirmed on the Range," SpaceX representatives wrote in a Twitter update (opens in new tab). 

"Just a small-seeming issue with loss of upper stage camera," SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk explained in a follow-up tweet today. "Probably nothing serious, but standing down to re-examine whole vehicle just in case."

That Range is the Eastern Range along Florida's Space Coast used for launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and NASA's nearby Kennedy Space Center. 

Today's planned Starlink launch was to be SpaceX's second flight this week and the 15th mission for the company's growing constellation of internet satellites. Another Falcon 9 rocket launched 60 Starlink satellites on Sunday (Oct. 18) from Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center. 

The Falcon 9 first stage for today's launch attempt is a veteran booster that has flown twice before. In September, it launched a previous Starlink mission and lofted the GPS III SV03 mission for the U.S. Space Force in June.

SpaceX has launched more than 800 Starlink satellites since 2019 as the company builds a megaconstellation that may eventually number about 14,000 satellites to provide global broadband internet coverage.

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award (opens in new tab) for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast (opens in new tab) with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network (opens in new tab). To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik (opens in new tab).