SpaceX

[rstrong]

SpaceX has another launch at 6:46pm ET today, sending a commercial communications to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit. The launch windows Is 90 minutes long. The satellite will be deployed approximately 31 minutes after liftoff.

There will be an attempt to land the first stage on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. But they're not expecting it to succeed; SpaceX and SES modified the flight plan to boost the satellite closer to its final orbit than originally planned. And so the booster will re-enter the atmosphere at high velocity with very little fuel to mitigate potential aerodynamic damage.

The last attempt to land on a barge touched down successfully... but one of the latches on the landing legs didn't latch and it fell over and went boom. There was thick fog around the launch site all through the countdown and launch, and apparently ice built up on the latch. (Cooled by liquid hydrogen and oxygen.)

Web updates: http://www.spacex.com/webcast

YouTube full video webcast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpaoRP70lzM
Full narration, etc.

YouTube Technical Webcast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-SD2gxMn5U
You will only see views of the rocket and hear the countdown audio.

The YouTube webcasts start an hour before launch. A couple minutes from now.

[rstrong]

Apparently the YouTube webcasts will only start 10 minutes prior to launch.

[rstrong]

It's started.

[rstrong]

On hold due to a range safety issue. Typically this means that a boat or aircraft has wandered into the range.

[rstrong]

Countdown is restarted, 11 minutes to go.

The ship in the liftoff area isn't clear yet, but is sounds like they're hoping it'll be clear in the next few minutes.

[rstrong]

T-0, engine start, aaaaand launch abort.

The range did go green a couple minutes before engine start.

[rstrong]

There *might* be another launch attempt tonight. They have less than an hour left in tonight's launch window.

[rstrong]

Launch is scrubbed for the day.

[Vrede too]

... A few minutes before the initial launch time of 6:46 p.m. ET, SpaceX held the launch because a boat has strayed too close and was in the danger zone. In the 40 or so minutes between waiting for the boat to move, it appears that fuel temperatures rose, which triggered an abort by the rocket's internal computer.

SpaceX has not established another launch date to try again.

Sucks. Boat or boat management problem?