Actually I love that they are scrubbing due to weather; we want them to recover the first stage and tow it into port and show that all the non firing engines could potentially be reused after a real soft landing!!! As Elon stated 75% of the cost is in the first stage.... I do realize that they have launch pressure do to backed up payloads; but I do like what they are doing with their 30% reserve.
Going to be a brand new rocket by the time they finish replacing all broken parts! That being said, I wonder how this bodes for reusability if a brand new rocket has this many problems.
*in a stoner voice* Just take out the sats, put in a stuffed Wile E. Coyote, and send it on it's way. Clear a path and light the fuse. We with you, man! On that same ridiculous note, I just have to say that having a stuffed Wile Coyote either blow up on a real rocket or placed in orbit around the Earth would be strangely satisfying to me.
Well...it's the first week of July. Anyone still following this? I checked the OG2 website and it says this: <quote>We are now targeting Monday, July 14th with Tuesday July 15th as a back-up for launch of ORBCOMM's OG2 Mission 1 pending approval from the Air Force Range</quote> So...alrighty then. See ya in a couple more weeks. lol
The reason for the latest delay (from first-of-July to mid-July) is that the Air Force Range out at Cape Canaveral had a two-week downtime scheduled for this summer, which was originally supposed to be in June but was delayed / pushed back with the earlier SpaceX launch attempts. So they are taking the downtime now, and SpaceX/ORBCOMM have to wait until they are back and operational before trying to launch again.
There is also a category 2 hurricane off the Florida coast. If they were planning to launch they would likely delay until the weather passes.
Orbcomms website now has a countdown for 3:20 PM CET on July 14th for the launch. So this will be a night launch for the US and nice and comfy for EU considering how many times I stayed up in the middle of the night it feels only fair
Easy to confuse time zones but it will be a 9:20AM Eastern or 6:20AM Pacific launch time. It will be daylight in North America as well.
(DST posts moved to their own thread: Daylight Saving Time) Static Fire scheduled for today the 11th -- unsure of time or even if that is published any more. The launch window opens on Monday the 14th at 9:21 AM EDT, ~2.5-hour window, and the next possible date would be Wednesday the 16th. (All from the NSF forums)
Weather looks favorable for SpaceX launch on Monday Looks like weather is looking favorable this time. Fingers crossed we get a good launch!
I just hope they've used the time productively and have kept building cores so that the next launches that have all been pushed back so many months can now come all in row as otherwise the 14 launches or smth that was planned for this year are going to be veeery hard to achieve even at 75% level ...
YouTube live feed of launch posted here (will start 20-30 minutes before launch I think) Video: Orbcomm OG2 | Falcon 9 Satellite Launch
*sigh* and the launch has been postponed to the end of the launch window, which seems to indicate that there is some trouble, wouldn't be surprised if it's aborted and shifted to day after tomorrow. Only info so far from OG2 launch website: Our schedule for this morning’s OG2 Mission 1 launch has been pushed to 11:44 am ET today, Monday, July 14. Additional updates will be posted shortly. - - - Updated - - - Ok, official SpaceX update seems to indicate it was a ground system that caused the delay and has been cleared now. So the launch is going to happen at the new time. As I will be in a cinema by then, then I'll not be able to see it ... would be nice if someone recorded it and uploaded it to youtube unless the new live streaming service by youtube means that it'll automatically get a youtube posting as well. Launch UpdateThe ORBCOMM OG2 launch is currently targeted for liftoff on Monday, July 14, 2014 at 11:44am ET. A live launch webcast will begin here at approximately 11:25am EDT. Out of an abundance of caution, the team took some extra time this morning to look at a potential ground systems issue; we have resolved any concern there and are moving forward with the countdown with a new T-0 of 11:44am.