Firefly launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base delayed for fourth time
VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. – A Firefly Aerospace launch planned to take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Monday, Sept. 19 or Tuesday, Sept. 20 has been delayed for a fourth time, Firefly Aerospace announced on Friday.
The rocket was supposed to take its inaugural launch from the base on Sept. 2, 2021, but dramatically exploded mid-air and lost the vehicle. Firefly officials said at the time that the rocket experienced an anomaly.
The aerospace company attempted its second rocket launch on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022 but was scrubbed after multiple delays. It was then rescheduled for Monday, Sept. 12, but was also scrubbed.
It was rescheduled to take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on either Monday, Sept. 19 or Tuesday, Sept. 20, but Firefly officials announced on Friday that the new launch window will be "no earlier than Sept. 29."
"We have received a weather update surrounding the storms off the west coast of the U.S. that is causing a delay to our launch window," officials said on Twitter.
The "To the Black" rocket will send out multiple satellites to low-earth orbit, which will collect flight data for educational analysis and comparisons to other flights and vehicles. The data collected will include temperatures, radiation, and atmospheric pressure.
