SpaceX scrubs KSC crew shot to space station, manages Cape Canaveral launch
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — The first four humans to fly into space in 2023 will have to wait a couple more days as teams scrubbed an early Monday morning launch attempt with less than three minutes before the planned liftoff.
The quartet making up the SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program strapped into the Crew Dragon Endeavour atop a Falcon 9 rocket late Sunday at KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A. But a ground systems issue prevented SpaceX from confirming the proper amount of propellant had been loaded.
“Hold, hold, hold,” called out SpaceX’s mission control lead Arthur Barriault as the crew of NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody
Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev had to wait more than an hour as teams unloaded the fuel so they could climb out of the spacecraft to try for another day.
“I think it’s good and bad,” said NASA astronaut Raja Chari, who flew on SpaceX’s Crew-3 mission that launched in 2021 and was part of the launch coverage. “The bad side is obviously, you know, you’re ready to go, waiting for it. But I think what’s really encouraging and what especially we’re appreciative is the astronauts knowing that everyone’s got our back and that safety is the paramount thing.”
NASA said the next attempt, assuming SpaceX can work through the technical issue, would be Thursday at 12:34 a.m. The Space Force Delta 45 weather squadron gives a 90% chance for favorable conditions.
The four are set to spend about six months on the ISS as part of Expeditions 68 and 69. They’re replacing the quartet of Crew-5 which are awaiting their arrival before heading back in their own Crew Dragon for a Florida splashdown targeting next week.
“I’m proud of the NASA and SpaceX teams’ focus and dedication to keeping Crew-6 safe,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a press release. “Human spaceflight is an inherently risky endeavor and, as always, we will fly when we are ready.”
The day was originally gearing up to be the busiest day ever for SpaceX, which had Starlink satellite missions prepped to launch from both California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral
Space Force Station back in Florida. The company has never flown three missions in one day.
In the end, SpaceX pushed the California attempt to Tuesday, but did manage to send 21 of its next-generation Starlink internet satellites up from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 lifting off at 6:13 p.m. The firststage booster making its third flight was recovered landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic.
It’s the 13th flight for SpaceX this year, including 10 from the Space Coast. Elon Musk said the company could see as many as 100 launches across all of its facilities before the end of 2023.