Fueling Under Way, Upper-Level Winds ‘Go’
At T-2 hours, 46 minutes, SpaceX Falcon 9 fueling operations are under way at Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. There are no technical issues and there is a 90 percent chance for favorable weather at the planned liftoff time of 6:03:32 p.m. EST. Upper level winds remain “Green.”
Launching NOAA’s DSCOVR is the primary mission for SpaceX. A secondary objective was to land the first stage booster on a drone ship stationed northeast of the launch pad. SpaceX posted a statement that it will not be able to attempt recovery of the first stage:
“SpaceX is still tracking towards a 6:03 p.m. EST liftoff of DSCOVR, but unfortunately we will not be able to attempt to recover the first stage of the Falcon 9. The drone ship was designed to operate in all but the most extreme weather. We are experiencing just such weather in the Atlantic with waves reaching up to three stories in height crashing over the decks. Also, only three of the drone ship’s four engines are functioning, making station-keeping in the face of such wave action extremely difficult. The rocket will still attempt a soft landing in the water through the storm (producing valuable landing data), but survival is highly unlikely.”
