SpaceX Falcon 9 shuts down swiftly after engines ignite Friday; no new launch date set

Rick Neale, Florida Today
·2 min read

As the SpaceX webcast announcer counted down the final 10 seconds of Friday's Falcon 9 launch attempt, he said "ignition" when the clock struck zero. And fast-moving fumes and smoke billowed from beneath the 230-foot-tall rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

But the Falcon 9 flight computers — which take control of launch countdowns during the last minute before liftoff — swiftly shut down the engines.

"Abort," the announcer said three seconds after T-0.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fires its engines, but launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was aborted Friday.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fires its engines, but launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was aborted Friday.

Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida

After the unusual 5:07 p.m. EDT post-ignition scrub, SpaceX announced, "a new target launch date will be shared once available." No further information was publicly released.

SpaceX's thrice-delayed Starlink 10-2 mission got postponed Wednesday and scrubbed Thursday amid poor weather generated by Invest 90L before Friday's dramatic shutdown at Launch Complex 40. Falcon 9 rockets are propelled by nine Merlin engines, which use kerosene and liquid oxygen as fuel.

Upon its eventual launch, the rocket will deploy a batch of 22 Starlink internet-beaming satellites into low-Earth orbit.

This screenshot of SpaceX's Friday webcast shows the countdown clock at zero with smoke billowing from beneath the Falcon 9 rocket after engine ignition. But the launch aborted, and the rocket never left Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
This screenshot of SpaceX's Friday webcast shows the countdown clock at zero with smoke billowing from beneath the Falcon 9 rocket after engine ignition. But the launch aborted, and the rocket never left Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Friday's scrub could impact SpaceX's Monday launch of the Astra 1P satellite, which will broadcast satellite TV channels across Germany, France and Spain, for Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES. That Falcon 9 mission is also slated for Launch Complex 40. No announcements were made as of Friday night.

Elsewhere on the SpaceX front, the Federal Aviation Administration will collect comments from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday during a virtual meeting about future Starship-Super Heavy launches from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The FAA is the lead agency crafting a Starship environmental impact statement.

  • Zoom URL: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89402979916

  • Zoom meeting ID: 894 0297 9916

  • Optional call-in numbers: 833-928-4608, 833-928-4609 or 833-928-4610.

"This project will have meaningful impacts to our City. You input and comments are important! Be sure to let the FAA know what you think about the project and the impacts it may have on your City," Cape Canaveral City Hall officials said in a Friday Facebook post.

This SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket shut down after engine ignition Friday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
This SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket shut down after engine ignition Friday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX rocket shuts down after engines ignite Friday at Cape Canaveral

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next