SpaceX Waives Off Tuesday Retry of SDA Satellite Launch, Eyes Thursday
After Monday's last-minute auto abort at Vandenberg, SpaceX also passed on a planned Tuesday attempt of the Tranche 1 Transport Layer A mission. The next window opens Thursday, Oct. 8.
SpaceX has stood down from a second attempt to launch 21 Space Development Agency satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base, waiving off a planned overnight Tuesday retry after Monday's countdown stopped in the final minute, Spaceflight Now reported.
The next opportunity comes Thursday, Oct. 8, with liftoff scheduled for 12:54 a.m. PT, according to a launch alert cited by the Palm Springs Desert Sun. SpaceX has not given a reason for the second stand-down.
The mission, designated Tranche 1 Transport Layer A, would carry the first batch of SDA data-transport satellites built by Northrop Grumman into low-Earth orbit. The 21 spacecraft are part of the Pentagon's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, a mesh network meant to relay missile-warning and secure-communications data. Once in orbit, they would join 63 Tranche 1 satellites already flying, Air and Space Forces Magazine reported.
Monday's attempt ended when the Falcon 9 triggered an automatic abort as the rocket entered its automated startup sequence. SpaceX said in a post on X that "vehicle and payload are in good health." The first-stage booster, B1103, is set to make its sixth flight.
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