SpaceX is set to launch a Falcon 9 rocket with a payload of 143 satellites aboard today. However, only a few minutes before the rocket was supposed to lift off, the launch was canceled. There was no problem with the rocket or the payload. The launch was scrubbed due to poor weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
Intuitive Machines (IM) has chosen SpaceX and the SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket for its second moon mission. At present, both of the Intuitive Machines missions headed to the moon in the next three years will be launched by SpaceX. This will be the Intuitive Machines IM-2 Polar Mission, and will bring the IM Nova-C lander to the moon, where it'll deploy the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment (PRIME-1) drill by December 2022.
One way SpaceX works to make placing satellites and other objects into orbit cheaper is by landing and reusing its Falcon 9 booster rockets. It has a long history of successfully landing the first stage boosters, both on land and on drone ships in the ocean. SpaceX is now outlining its plan to capture and reuse the Falcon Super Heavy booster that will be used to push Starship and larger payloads into space.
SpaceX has been forced to scrub some of its launches recently due to weather and other issues with equipment. On Thursday, November 5, at 6:24 PM EST, SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket placing the GPS III Space Vehicle 04 into orbit. The launch occurred at the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
NASA has announced that it has delayed the commercial crew mission slated for the first half of November to give SpaceX time to investigate an engine issue that happened during a recent Falcon 9 launch attempt. NASA announced the delay yesterday, October 10, only weeks ahead of the planned October 31 launch at Kennedy Space Center.