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On Thursday afternoon, SpaceX announced the postponement of a Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The delay was caused by storm activity in the Pacific, specifically Hurricane Hilary off Mexico’s Pacific coast. The storm had the potential to impact recovery efforts of the first stage rocket, which was planned to land on the “Of Course I Still Love You” autonomous droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

As a result, the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and 21 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E has been rescheduled for Monday, August 21, at the earliest. The decision was made to ensure the safety and success of the mission.

Earlier in the day, the Falcon 9 launch had already been rescheduled from Thursday morning to Friday. The new launch opportunities were set for 12:30 a.m. and 1:20 a.m. A live launch webcast will be available on spacex.com/launches approximately five minutes prior to liftoff.

The upcoming Starlink mission will carry 21 satellites to low-Earth orbit. This will be the 15th flight for the first-stage booster, which has previously launched various missions, including Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Transporter-4, Transporter-5, Globalstar FM15, ISI EROS C-3, and five other Starlink missions.

Once the first stage separates from the rocket, it will attempt to land on the “Of Course I Still Love You” autonomous droneship. This landing proves to be an important aspect of SpaceX’s reusability efforts.

SpaceX remains committed to ensuring the safety and success of its missions, and the rescheduled launch date will allow for the necessary precautions to be taken.

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