Space and Physics
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SpaceX has been trying to launch an Italian surveillance satellite for the past several days but the poor weather conditions had delayed it. Now, it's been delayed again by a surprise guest too close on launch day. On January 30, when the Falcon 9 rocket had just 33 seconds to launch, it had to be stopped. A cruise ship had entered the hazard zone.
In the live stream of the launch, you can clearly hear the “hold, hold, hold” from a member of the mission control team. “We have a red range for a fouled range with a ship in the hazard area.” The launch had to be scrapped.
Ships are warned in advance of launches from Cape Canaveral in Florida, so they can avoid the hazard zone, so it's not clear how the ship — believed to be Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas according to local sources — got in there. The local Coast guard is reported to be investigating the incident.
The launch has been postponed to January 31 at 6:11 pm EST with hopefully no further delays.
The satellite that is expected to launch is part of a four-satellite constellation that can provide surveillance over the Mediterranean with imagery to be used in defense, seismic hazard analysis, environmental disaster monitoring, and agricultural mapping.
