Suspect valve delays AMOS-17 Falcon 9 launch

SpaceX’s workhorse rocket, the Falcon 9, has had a pretty successful year of launches. With seven flights and seven successful landings under its belt, SpaceX is gearing up for Number 8 with the AMOS-17 mission.

Suspect valve delays AMOS-17 Falcon 9 launchBut with several tropical disturbances bearing down on the Sunshine State, an issue with the AMOS-17 Falcon 9 has caused the satellite’s launch to be delayed.

Elon Musk’s spaceflight company announced that the launch would wait until to replace a “suspect valve” as well as to conduct a second static test firing of the rocket’s first stage and its nine Merlin 1D engines. 

With poor weather conditions roiling about the Atlantic and the Caribbean, conditions for an early-evening launch of AMOS-17 could also be a problem.

The new pretty satellite, known as AMOS-17, will provide telecommunications access across the Middle East, Africa and Europe and will eventually finish up in a geostationary orbit around the Earth.

The booster being used has flown twice previously, in July and November 2018 but will not be recycled like its previous two flights. Instead, it’s likely to end up in the ocean.

Elon Musk’s spaceflight company routinely provides a livestream of its launch and payload delivery at the SpaceX website for the update of every SpaceX moment.