ULA now targeting Wednesday evening for Delta IV Heavy rocket launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - After delaying the launch five times this week, United Launch Alliance (ULA) is now targeting late Wednesday evening for the launch of a Delta IV Heavy NROL-44 rocket.
The space company said the rocket is ready for launch, but the weather has now twice-delayed planed liftoffs. The launch will now take place at 11:54 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 30 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
"The local weather resulted in a significant delay to pre-launch preparations including the roll of the Mobile Service Tower," the company tweeted on Tuesday evening.
The Delta IV Heavy rocket was originally scheduled for liftoff on Sunday, before being moved to Monday, and then scheduled for two different launch times on Tuesday. A previous delay was tied to issues with the swing arm retraction system which has since been resolved.
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SpaceX also had a launch of a Falcon 9 rocket planned for Tuesday, but on late Monday, it announced it is now targeting Wednesday. It will carry the U.S. Air Force’s fourth third-generation navigation satellite for the Global Positioning System. This mission has also been delayed several times since last year.
SpaceX will also soon launch more Starlink satellites into space after scrubbing two previous attempts. On Monday, it was supposed to lift off but was scrubbed due to weather. This will be the company's 13th batch of Starlink satellites to send into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. A new liftoff time has not yet been announced.
You can watch all of the launches live on FOX 35 News.