SpaceX was set to launch 60 Starlink Satellites into space on Sunday evening aboard Falcon 9, but the liftoff was scrubbed at t-minus one minute and 24 seconds.
“Auto-abort at T-1:24 ahead of tonight’s Falcon 9 launch of Starlink; next launch opportunity is tomorrow, March 1 at 8:15 p.m. EST,” said SpaceX shortly afterwards.
Auto-abort at T-1:24 ahead of tonight's Falcon 9 launch of Starlink; next launch opportunity is tomorrow, March 1 at 8:15 p.m. EST
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 1, 2021
According to Andy Tran, SpaceX Production Supervisor hosting the live stream, he said after the launch scrub, teams are usually “overly cautious on the ground”, with the countdown’s purpose to catch any signs of something that could go wrong.
“Vehicle and payload are healthy”, added Tran, noting the next launch would take place tomorrow at 5:15pm PST/8:15pm EST.
The most recent Starlink launch was back on February 15, when Falcon 9 successfully reached space, but failed its landing attempt onto SpaceX’s autonomous drone ship. SpaceX cleared its upcoming Starlink launches afterwards to further test and it’s easy to see why teams were cautious leading into tonight’s launch.
