Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to launch two satellites into space on Tuesday (8) had to be postponed due to force majeure.
Everything was ready for the launch of Galaxy 31 and Galaxy 32 for Intelsat (telecommunications company) via Falcon 9 rocket and at Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. However, Tropical Storm Nicole has gained strength in the Atlantic and may appear on the space station, forcing a delay.
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“Teams in Cape Town are preparing for Tropical Storm Nicole and are now targeting Saturday, November 12 for the launch of Falcon 9 from the Intelsat G-31/G-32 mission into orbit from SLC-40 [Space Launch Complex-40]“, SpaceX communicated via Twitter this Monday (7), indicating that the launch should take place on Saturday (12).
In another tweet, the company assured that the rocket and satellites are safe in the hangar and will remain there until the storm subsides.
Technically, Nicole is classified as a subtropical storm as it exhibits characteristics of both tropical and extratropical storms.
But it could still become a hurricane and hit the US southeast coast with strong winds and heavy rain in the coming days, experts say.
In fact, Florida’s Atlantic coast — which includes Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) — is now under a hurricane watch.
Despite the storm, NASA still intends to launch its long-awaited Artemis 1 lunar mission from KSC on November 14. The agency does not plan to launch it from Pad 39B at KSC for protection, as it did in late September for protection against Hurricane Ian.
With information from Space.com
Featured Image: SpaceX
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