After two dramatic countdown aborts, the Alpha rocket team ran out of time for a third liftoff attempt Monday night at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The Texas-based Firefly Aerospace rocket remains standing at Space Launch Complex-2, awaiting the chance to conduct the mission dubbed “Noise of Summer.”
The team might try as soon as Tuesday night for the Alpha rocket’s fifth launch, Firefly officials said.
Seconds away from lifting off shortly after 9 p.m. Monday, the countdown halted abruptly. However, with a 30-minute window, the team recycled the countdown amid hopes of still getting the rocket off the ground.
Despite their efforts, they had to stop the night’s second countdown and began the post-scrub chores so they could try another day.
“This is how it goes. You know the saying, you’d rather be on the ground wishing you were flying than flying wishing you were on the ground,” a commentator said on the livestream webcast.
Equipment on the ground reportedly caused the problems that forced the team to call off Monday’s countdown with a liftoff.
“Our launch today was scrubbed due to a ground support issue. The team has identified the solution and is working quickly to meet our next launch window,” Firefly representatives said.
The next attempt could come as soon 9:03 p.m. Tuesday, with the window remaining open for 30 minutes.
Alpha will carry eight CubeSats under a NASA contract to prove the capabilities of a new rocket and provide more access to space for small satellites and spacecraft.
Leading up to Monday night’s countdown, the team conducted a rapid launch operation, successfully transporting the payload fairing, or rocket’s nose cone, to the launch pad and mating it to the rocket 14 hours before the planned Monday night liftoff.
Historically, those chores have been completed months or weeks in advance for some missions involving different rockets.
If the rocket departs at the opening of the launch window, it could create a twilight effect. However, the marine layer seems intent on interfering with the view for spectators in coastal areas.
Even cameras at the launch site struggled to display Alpha on Monday, prompting a launch commentator to wryly ask, “Is the rocket getting less visible?”
A livestream of the countdown and launch is scheduled to begin 30 minutes before the liftoff and can be found by clicking here.