SpaceX delays Falcon 9 rocket launch to Sunday
VANDENBERG, Calif. – SpaceX announced on Friday that it will move the Falcon 9 launch of the National Reconnaissance Office mission (NROL-85) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base to Sunday, April 17 due to excessive upper-level winds forecast for Saturday.
The launch was originally supposed to take place on Friday morning, then was moved to Saturday, and SpaceX said on Friday that it will now take place "no earlier than Sunday, April 17," according to the SpaceX website.
The instantaneous launch window is set for 6:13 a.m. Easter morning.
The NROL-87, the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, was launched in February, and following a stage separation, Falcon 9's first stage will return and land on Landing Zone 4 at the Vandenberg Space Force Base.
A live webcast of the mission will begin roughly 15 minutes before liftoff, according to SpaceX.
Local residents from San Luis Obispo County to Ventura County can expect to wake up to multiple sonic booms on Sunday morning as the rocket breaks the sound barrier and returns to land, officials said.
