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Starlink Launch Halted in Dramatic Last-Second Scrub · Elon Musk Podcast

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  Hey, everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk podcast.
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  This is a show where we discuss the critical crossroads, the
• 0:08
  shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company and Neuralink.
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  I'm your host, Will Walden. During the countdown of Friday's
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  Falcon 9 launch attempt, the SpaceX webcast announcer
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  declared ignition as the clock hit zero.
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  Now however, the Rockets flight computers which managed the
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  final minute of countdown quickly aborted the engines.
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  The launch was halted just three seconds after the plan lift off
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  from Cape Canaveral Space Forest Station, marking a very unusual
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  scrub for SpaceX. Now following the five O 7:00 PM
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  Eastern post ignition abort, SpaceX stated that a new target
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  launch date would be provided later, with no additional
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  details released at the time. This incident added another
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  delay to the Thrace postpone Starlink 10-2 mission, which was
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  previously deferred due to adverse weather conditions
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  caused by Invest 90 L. Now, the Falcon 9 stands at 230
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  feet tall. It's powered by 9 Merlin engines
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  that burn kerosene and liquid oxygen.
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  These engines provide the thrust needed to carry the rocket and
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  its payload, which for this mission includes 22 Starlink
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  satellites intended for low Earth orbit to expand Spacex's
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  Internet service network. Friday's scrub could also affect
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  Spacex's upcoming schedule, particularly the planned Monday
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  launch of the Astra 1P satellite.
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  This mission, which will broadcast satellite TV channels
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  across Europe for SES, is also set to launch from the same
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  complex, and as of Friday night, no updates had been provided
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  regarding potential scheduling conflicts or changes.
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  Elsewhere, the FAA is organizing a virtual meeting to gather
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  public comments on the environmental impact of future
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  Starship Super Heavy launches from NASA's Kennedy Space
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  Center. The FAA is the primary agency
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  involved in developing the Starship Environmental Impact
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  Statement. Now, in a social media post,
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  Cape Canaveral City Hall officials encourage residents to
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  share their views on the project.
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  The emphasizes potential impacts on the city and the community's
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  feedback is deemed critical in the FA as decision making
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  process regarding the approval and regulation of Spacex's
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  ambitious launch activities from Florida.
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  Now, the abort of Friday's launch attempt was prominently
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  covered on Spacex's live broadcast, where the announcer
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  immediately confirmed the shutdown of the engines.
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  The precise cause of the abort remains unclear, and the company
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  has yet to announce a new launch date for the Starlink 10/2
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  mission. Now, the Falcon 9's first stage
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  booster involved in this mission has a notable flight history,
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  having been used 15 times before.
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  It had previously supported missions such as SES 22, ICE
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  Spaces, Hakutro R Mission 1, Amazonis 6, CRS 27, and
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  Bandwagon at 1:00, and also 10. Starlink launches now after
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  liftoff, the first stage booster would have been expected to land
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  on a SpaceX drones tip stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
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  This is a maneuver that SpaceX has refined to enable the reuse
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  of its rockets. If you've never seen this
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  before, it's absolutely stunning.
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  Now, this reusability is key component to Spacex's strategy
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  to reduce the cost of space travel.
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  And they're winning this new space race.
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  And the Falcon 9 rocket with its 9 Merlin engines is a crucial
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  assets in Spacex's arsenal, enabling the company to maintain
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  an impressive launch cadence. This year alone, SpaceX has
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  completed nearly 60 missions, with 45 dedicated to expanding
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  its Starlink constellation. Starlink aims to provide high
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  speed Internet globally by deploying thousands of small
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  satellites in low Earth orbit, and currently there are nearly
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  6100 operational Starlink satellites, making it one of the
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  largest satellite networks in the world.
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  SpaceX has been launching rockets at an average rate of
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  every 2.7 days in 2024. This relentless pace underscores
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  the company's operational efficiency and the demand for
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  its launch services, particularly for its own
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  Starlink missions in the recent scrub is very rare for SpaceX,
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  with the last abort happening way back in October 2020 during
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  EGPS satellite launch. The robustness of Spacex's
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  launch systems include comprehensive checks and
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  balances to ensure mission safety for every single launch.
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  Now, the weather has been a consistent challenge for SpaceX,
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  of course, with the 45th Weather Squadron predicting only a 30%
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  chance of favorable conditions at the start of the Friday
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  launch window. The forecast was expected to
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  improve to 70% by the end of the window.
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  And that's because Florida has such variable weather patterns.
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  I used to live in Orlando. Personal note here, it would
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  rain in the morning some days at 10:00 in the morning, would dry
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  up by 10:30 and it would be almost 100° for the rest of the
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  day. And during those 30 minutes that
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  it rained, it was about 65 or 70°.
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  It is very variable. I was very close to NASA at that
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  point, so I understand where SpaceX is coming from.
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  And the 45th Weather Squadron is talking about these variable
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  weather patterns. But during this launch,
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  meteorologists had expressed concerns about anvil and cumulus
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  clouds, which can create hazardous conditions for rocket
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  launches due to the potential launch lightning.
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  Now, these concerns are particularly relevant to
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  Florida, where thunderstorms are very common during the summer
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  months. And the Falcon 9 booster
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  supporting the Starlink 10/2 mission, identified as B1O73, is
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  set to launch for the 16th time sometime in the future.
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  It won't aim to land on the drone ship.
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  Just read the instructions marking the 84th such launch for
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  this particular vessel and 319th booster recovery overall.
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  This mission is part of a very busy period for SpaceX, which,
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  alongside NASA and the FAA, has been conducting public meetings
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  regarding the proposed Starship launch from Kennedy Space
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  Center. These discussions will help the
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  public express their concerns and also show some regulatory
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  requirements going forward. Now, SpaceX has been progressing
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  with its infrastructure development, recently shipping
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  the final segments of a second Starship tower to its Starbase
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  facility in Texas, where they currently launched Starship
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  vehicles. We're on the next one, hopefully
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  in July. Now, this indicates that the
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  company's ongoing expansion for a second tower in preparation
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  for future Starship missions, including catching the booster
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  on the chopstick arms on the launch tower.
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  It's going to be incredible. Now, the last second abort of
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  Falcon 9 on Friday shows that there's still challenges for
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  SpaceX. They're not perfect, and there's
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  complexities to every single space mission.
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  There's thousands of parts in these rockets that anything
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  could go wrong. But with the cause of the abort
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  still unknown, Space XS ability to quickly resolve the issue
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  will determine the timing of the next launch event.
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  And while the company continues to work on the Falcon 9, they're
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  going to at the same time continue to work on the Starship
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  facility in Boca Chica, Starbase, Texas.
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  Hey, thank you so much for listening today.
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  yourselves and each other. And I'll see you tomorrow.