SpaceX delays Polaris Dawn rocket launch again: Here's why, next launch attempt in Florida
The launch of Polaris Dawn to space has been delayed again – this time for at least 48 hours, according to SpaceX.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, late Tuesday night, SpaceX said "unfavorable weather conditions" off the coast of Florida where its Dragon capsule would splashdown were the reasons for the delay. Therefore, SpaceX decided to scrub Wednesday and Thursday morning's launch attempts.
A new launch date and time has not yet been announced.
Jared Isaacman, one of the four astronauts to fly aboard Polaris Dawn, said in his own post on X that "launch criteria are heavily constrained by forecasted splashdown weather conditions."
"With no ISS rendezvous and limited life support consumables, we must be absolutely sure of reentry weather before launching. As of now, conditions are not favorable tonight or tomorrow, so we'll assess day by day," he said.
"As Elon mentioned, Polaris Dawn is a challenging mission with critical objectives, so we'll wait for the best opportunity to ensure success," he said.
What is the Polaris Dawn mission?
Polaris Dawn is the first of three private spaceflight missions that are part of the Polaris Program, an initiative led by Jared Isaacson to advance space flight and exploration.
"The Polaris Program will embark on three human spaceflight missions that will demonstrate new technologies, conduct extensive research and ultimately culminate in the first flight of SpaceX’s Starship with humans on board," is how the mission is described on its website.
Polaris Dawn is the first and seeks to send four people, including Isaacson, to space for a five-day spaceflight.
The mission's goals are to
- Fly SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Dragon higher than previous Dragon missions
- Conduct the first private spacewalk from ~700 kilometers above the Earth with SpaceX's spacesuits
- Test SpaceX's Starlink laser communications in space
- Conduct experiments, research, and collect samples while in space