The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which was scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Friday has been moved back to Saturday morning at 5:21 a.m.
For the ninth time, It’s set to send another 60 Starlink satellites into orbit before the booster rockets return to the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” eight minutes later.
The weather is expected to be 80 percent favorable for launch, with high clouds around the launch pad the only hindrance.
SpaceX sent two astronauts to the International Space Station in the Crew Dragon orbiter, and sent more satellites up last week. The Falcon 9 will stay busy: Another Starlink mission is scheduled on June 22, followed by an all-important launch of an Air Force’s global positioning satellite on June 30.
Also on Thursday, NASA announced private space company Astrobotic will deliver the agency’s moon rover, VIPER, to the moon by end of 2023.
VIPER, which stands for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, will map resources, such as water ice, on the lunar surface that can be used for future human missions. The rover’s delivery to the moon is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, program. Under this initiative, NASA will pay private companies, like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to deliver payloads to the moon to establish a lasting presence on the lunar surface.
