Technical troubles led crews to scrub Friday’s Atlas V rocket launch of a commercial satellite at Vandenberg Air Force Base, and the next attempt will occur Sunday.
The United Launch Alliance rocket from Space Launch Complex-3 intended to try again as soon as Saturday, but ultimately needed more time. The launch window remains 11:30 to 11:44 a.m.
“The launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V carrying the WorldView-4 mission was scrubbed today due to a minor ground leak during propellant tanking,” ULA officials said around 11 a.m. Friday.
An “ice ball” forming on on the umbilical equipment prompted the team to scrub the launch attempt, ULA president and CEO Tory Bruno said on Twitter.
“Outside our history,” he added. “Standing down attempt today to resolve.”
A launch attempt Saturday was dependent upon resolution of the concern that led to Friday’s scrub, ULA officials said, and by afternoon the mission had slipped to Sunday.
The Atlas will carry the WorldView-4, a commercial Earth-imaging satellite built by Lockheed Martin for DigitalGlobe.
Also hitching a ride will be seven CubeSats, or micro satellites, designed to test assorted technologies for the National Reconnaissance Office.
WorldView-4’s launch comes two years after a sibling satellite arrived in space and will double the capacity of high-resolution imagery.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.