The newest delivery of Starlink satellites into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was postponed Sunday evening, according to an online posting by the American space technology and launch systems provider.
The launch was postponed after the countdown had been put on hold before one of the company’s Falcon 9 rockets lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Sunday night.
Space X says it will likely move the launch, which is scheduled to deliver close to two dozen of the company’s Starlink satellites into orbit, to its next available launch window on Monday evening.
At a current total of 266 total launches, 224 landings, and 199 re-flights, the SpaceX Falcon 9, currently the only commercial rocket to ever carry humans into orbit, has proven its worth in the burgeoning area of 21st-century space exploration.
The two-stage rocket, designed as a reusable solution for the safe transport of people and a variety of payloads into orbit, is the first of its kind.
“Reusability allows SpaceX to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access,” the company’s website states.
Despite SpaceX’s focus on sustainable practices with its rocket innovations, a growing number of astronomers and experts in other disciplines have pushed back against commercial companies like SpaceX, expressing concerns about the growing number of reflective satellites that are populating Earth’s orbit.
In recent weeks, at least one SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch is suspected of having led to observations by some residents of Texas and surrounding states of a suspected UFO.
It wasn’t the first time a Falcon 9 rocket launch has been mistaken for one of the mysterious objects the Department of Defense’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office has been tasked with studying. A launch from Kennedy Space Center in 2021 also led to widespread reports of unidentified aerial phenomena over the U.S. East Coast and Canada.
Monday’s SpaceX launch is expected to see 23 Starlink satellites placed into orbit, marking the eighth liftoff featuring its first-stage booster.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on Twitter: @MicahHanks.