SpaceX successfully launches spy satellite for National Reconnaissance Office
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (NewsNation Now) — SpaceX delayed the launch of a spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office scheduled for Thursday.
SpaceX successfully launched a spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office Saturday morning after the launch was aborted previously due to technical difficulties Thursday. The reason it was postponed Friday was not immediately released.
Elon Musk’s space technology company had planned to launch the NROL-108 mission Thursday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The launch was aborted “due to a second stage sensor reading,” the company said in a Twitter statement Thursday.
SpaceX said officials plan to take a closer look at its data, but that the rocket and the satellite “remain healthy.”
The company had set up a backup plan to launch from the Kennedy Space Center Saturday, with a three-hour window beginning at 9 a.m. EST.
Last week, SpaceX’s test launch of a prototype rocket ended in a fiery explosion.
The SpaceX Starship SN8 flight test aborted after an engine fire at the facility in Boca Chica.
Musk had determined the launch to still be a success, congratulating his team and saying they retrieved all the data they needed.