3..2..1... abort
SpaceX aborted launch a split second before launch. Last second aborts are rare but not unheard of.
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SpaceX aborted launch of its sixth batch of Starlink satellites Sunday morning with the countdown timer reading T+00:00:00.
As SpaceX Supply Chain Supervisor Michael Andrews said during commentary following the abort, “The purpose of the countdown is to catch potential issues prior to flight. There are 1,000 ways a launch can go wrong and only one way it can go right."
This was to be the first time a Falcon 9 booster has been reused four times. It was also to be the first reuse of a fairing, recovered after the Falcon Heavy launch of a communications satellite nearly a year ago.
Launch aborts in the final seconds of a countdown are rare but not unheard of. Space Shuttle launches were aborted five times in the 6.6 seconds after the main engine started but before the solid rocket motors ignited and the vehicle is committed to take off. NASA calls this a redundant set launch sequencer abort (RSLS).
- STS-41D June 26, 1984: Main fuel valve actuator in one of the engines stuck, 6 seconds before launch
- STS-15-F July 12, 1985: Chamber coolant valve refused to close, 3 seconds before launch
- STS-55 March 22, 1993: Leak in a liquid oxygen check valve, 3 seconds before launch
- STS-51 August 12, 1993: Faulty sensor indicated abnormal fuel flow, 3 seconds before launch
- STS-68 August 1994: Overheated main engine fuel pump, 1.9 seconds before launch
Other launch launch aborts in the final seconds include:
- September 26, 1983 Soyuz 7K-ST-16L failed valve caused a fuel tank rupture. The crew capsule separated and was pulled to safety by the launch escape system two seconds before the rocket exploded.
- May 28, 2010: ULA Delta IV launch of GPS satellites, aborted seconds before launch
- February 18, 2017: SpaceX Falcon 9 launch aborted due to steering problems in booster upper stage
- December 13, 2017: Rocket Labs Electron test launch aborted 2 seconds before launch due to rising liquid oxygen temperatures,
- Dec 2018: Delta IV Heavy launch of NROL-71, a National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite aborted 7.5 seconds before launch
You might recall the launch abort that stopped NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin short of their trip to the ISS aboard their Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft in 2018. This occurred after launch and, like the other aborts above, worked as designed, allowing them to fly again.
Weather for the backup launch window remains good with an 80% go forecast by the Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base. Forecasters continue to watch light onshore winds which bring moisture and may increase cloud cover a bit.
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