SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch halted over cruise ship in hazard area

[Elderberry]

WFTV9 1/30/2022

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — SpaceX scrubbed its fourth attempt to launch a Falcon 9 rocket after a cruise ship entered a hazard area in Cape Canaveral.

SpaceX halted its countdown at 33 seconds after a cruise ship entered a hazard area that needs to be clear for safety.

The Falcon 9 rocket is attempting to land back at the Kennedy Space Center and areas around the launch and landing sight need to be clear for approval.

SpaceX
@SpaceX
Standing down from today's launch of COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 due to ship in the hazard area; team is setting up for next opportunity tomorrow, January 31 at 6:11 p.m. EST

https://www.wftv.com/news/local/brevard-county/spacex-set-back-to-back-rocket-launches-kennedy-space-center/XGYK7RZSIRA5VCKTHCDCZ4SFS4/

[Elderberry]

TeslaRati by Eric Ralph

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-cruise-ship-scrubs-falcon-9-launch/

By all appearances, the ship responsible appears to have been Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas, which was headed straight into the Coast Guard’s keep-out-zone about 20 minutes before liftoff and veered south – away from the zone – around 10 minutes later. However, that’s not certain as a large number of cruise ships operate in or around the southeasterly corridor Falcon 9 was scheduled to overly between Florida and the Bahamas, making it possible that a different ship was at risk of entering the keep-out zone dozens to hundreds of miles downrange.

While just a part of rocketry, this scrub was particularly annoying because it came on a day with near-perfect weather after three consecutive weather-related scrubs. The US military’s 45th Space Wing had also explicitly warned boaters and the general public of the unusual southerly launch trajectory and encouraged them to double-check exclusion zones. Further, had Falcon 9 been able to launch, perfectly clear skies and a liftoff scheduled about 15 minutes after sunrise could have created a spectacular light show visible for one or several hundred miles in every direction as Falcon 9 rose back into direct sunlight. The weather forecast on CSG-2’s backup window (6:11 pm EST, Jan 31) still predicts excellent conditions but clear skies are never guaranteed.

Ultimately, a fouled range – and, in general, any non-technical launch delay – is just an inconvenience for SpaceX and its customer. Nonetheless, each scrubbed launch likely costs the company several hundred thousand dollars and wastes hundreds or even thousands of work-hours. Additionally, given SpaceX’s plans for as many as 52 Falcon launches this year, a few days of delays can quickly become a significant issue if repeated multiple times. With any luck, that won’t be the case and CSG-2’s fouled-range delay will be just a fluke for SpaceX and the Florida launch range.

[Elderberry]

Coast Guard starts investigation of Royal Caribbean ship that caused SpaceX scrub

Florida Today by Emre Kelly and Dave Berman 1/31/2022

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/money/business/2022/01/31/coast-guard-begins-investigation-royal-caribbean-ship-caused-spacex-scrub/9287700002/

Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas was responsible for Sunday evening's scrub of a SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The ship veered into the exclusion zone along a Falcon 9 rocket's flightpath Sunday evening, forcing SpaceX to stand down from the mission and prepare for a 24-hour turnaround.

In a statement issued Monday, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman David Micallef said: "We can confirm the cruise ship was Harmony of the Seas. The Coast Guard is actively investigating Sunday’s cruise ship incursion and postponement of the SpaceX launch."

"Our primary concern is the safety of mariners at sea, and we will continue to work with our federal, state and local port partners to ensure safe and navigable waterways," Micallef added.

A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman did not respond as of Monday afternoon to a request from FLORIDA TODAY for comment.

Port Canaveral spokesman Steve Linden said the port did not have any comment, because "it was an offshore incident outside of port jurisdiction," as the ship already had left the port, and the matter is being investigated by the Coast Guard.