SpaceX has delayed the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket with 11 Orbcomm telecommunication satellites for a day, to wait for a better chance to land the rocket’s first-stage booster after liftoff.
The commercial rocket company’s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, said the decision to put off Sunday’s scheduled launch attempt was made after a review of the mission parameters. In a tweet, he said an analysis of probabilistic Monte Carlo simulations showed there was a “10 percent higher chance of a good landing” on Monday night.
Just reviewed mission params w SpaceX team. Monte Carlo runs show tmrw night has a 10% higher chance of a good landing. Punting 24 hrs.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2015
As a result, the countdown was delayed 24 hours. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida is now scheduled for a five-minute window that opens at 8:29 p.m. ET (5:29 p.m. PT) Monday. Forecasters said there was an 80 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for launch.
In a separate statement, Orbcomm said SpaceX determined that taking an additional day would allow for further analysis of the results from Friday’s pre-launch rocket test, plus extra time for chilling down the rocket’s liquid oxygen propellant.
The caution reflects the high stakes facing SpaceX for this launch: This would be the company’s first space mission since a Falcon 9 disintegrated during ascent in June. Since then, the Falcon 9’s cryogenic fuel system has been upgraded, adding to the rocket’s potential power. What’s more, SpaceX is planning to have the rocket’s first stage fly itself back to Cape Canaveral after separation for a first-of-its-kind landing.
The company has prepared a former missile test range, now renamed Landing Zone 1, to serve as the target site. SpaceX previously tried landing Falcon 9 boosters on an oceangoing platform with mixed success.
The landing exercise is part of Musk’s vision to make rockets more reusable. That would lower the cost of spaceflight, potentially blazing a trail for Musk’s grand plan to send colonists to Mars.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is also seeking to pioneer rocket reusability. Last month, his Blue Origin venture sent an autonomously guided New Shepard rocket ship to the edge of space and brought it back intact for a vertical landing in West Texas.
Musk congratulated Bezos on that suborbital feat. He pointed out, however, that landing the Falcon 9’s first stage after an orbital launch is more difficult and could have bigger implications for the future of spaceflight.
