With only a few minutes left in the countdown, SpaceX waved off their launch attempt of Falcon 9 carrying the Astra 1P television satellite designed to serve the European market once operational. Both the rocket and the payload are in good condition, and weather permitting, another attempt is expected as soon as late tomorrow afternoon.

SpaceX has updated the launch schedule: “SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, June 19 for a Falcon 9 launch of the SES ASTRA 1P mission to geosynchronous transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The two-hour and 49-minute launch window opens at 5:25 p.m. ET.”

The only problem? The weather is looking worse for tomorrow’s attempt.

Our previous launch preview is here — all of that information still applies with the launch time shifted twenty-four hours later.

Weather

There are two areas of major concern for Wednesday’s launch attempt: winds here at the Cape and the sea state ESE in Atlantic Ocean, where ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions’ awaits Booster B1080 when it makes its landing attempt after a successful launch.

The 45th Weather Squadron notes this in their updated forecast, issued at 08:30PM EDT on Tuesday, June 18: “Dominant easterly flow will continue through the rest of this week as an easterly wave draws nearer. Wind speeds will be in the 25-30mph range for a Wednesday night launch attempt, with gusts potentially reaching 35-40mph within any shower activity.” Additionally, the 45th highlighted and pointed out that the Booster Recovery Weather (where JRTI is stationed at sea) is “Moderate to High.”

The leaves us with a three-in-ten (30%) chance of acceptable conditions here and at JRTI, bringing to mind the famous Jim Carrey line from the movie “Dumb and Dumber: “So you’re telling me there’s a chance.”

We’ll see.

Free Advice

Stay tuned to SpaceX’s website or X (formerly Twitter) account for official changes to the launch schedule throughout the afternoon. Talk of Titusville will also update you with information as we get it.

Keep up with launch news and other space events that affect the local area by subscribing to alerts when we publish a new article by entering your email at the link at the bottom of this page, or by visiting Space Talk here on the website. It’s free, and you can cancel at any time.