Over the past few days, SpaceX has delayed its historic Polaris Dawn astronaut mission several times due to a number of reasons including a helium leak and bad weather.
The mission in Cape Canaveral, Florida, will see Commander Jared Isaacman, former F-16 pilot Scott Poteet and SpaceX engineers, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis, launch into a highly elliptical orbit that will carry them higher than any astronauts have flown since the Apollo moon program . But SpaceX has delayed the mission a number of times since the beginning of the week, and currently there is no set date for the launch.
And ahead of the civilian launch, rocket Falcon 9 booster 1062 exploded as it landed on a drone ship. As Elon Musk's company faces one more delay to the Polaris Dawn mission, we look at other previous delays and aborted missions it has experienced.
Wind cancels launch
On June 18, SpaceX had to cancel the launch of a European broadcast satellite from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida just minutes before lift off. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket was to send up SES's ASTRA 1P satellite to transfer obit during a nearly three-hour launch window, but the mission was canceled due to wind, SpaceX said on a live broadcast of the event. It eventually lifted off on June 20, marking the 45th orbital flight from Florida's Space Coast in 2024.
Falcon 9 rocket anomaly
On July 11, the Falcon 9 rocket suffered a rare anomaly during a launch of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Initially, the rocket performed well as its two stages separated on time, with the first stage coming down for a landing on a drone ship about eight minutes after lift off, as planned.
However, the rocket's upper stage, which was carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft to Low Earth orbit, faced a leak of liquid oxygen which had an impact on the success of the mission. SpaceX wrote in an update on July 12: "After a planned relight of the upper-stage engine to raise perigee - or the lowest point of orbit - the Merlin Vacuum engine experienced an anomaly and was unable to complete its second burn.
"Although the stage survived and still deployed the satellites, it did not successfully circularize its orbit, but it did passivate itself as normally performed at the end of each mission. This left the satellites in an eccentric orbit with a very low perigee of 135 km [84 miles], which is less than half the expected perigee altitude."
It added: "At this level of drag, our maximum available thrust is unlikely to be enough to successfully raise the satellites. As such, the satellites will reenter Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise. They do not pose a threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety."
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Delayed mission
SpaceX launched 23 Starlink satellites into space aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on August 12, a day after the launch was aborted during the final minute of the countdown. A reason for the delay wasn't given and the firm said the rocket was in good health and "good to go" after the launch was pushed back.
The Falcon 9 first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after lift off, touching down on the drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas", which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX said this was the 17th launch and landing for this particular booster.
Polaris Dawn delays
The mission was initially scheduled to launch early Monday morning from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was then rescheduled for Tuesday, but this attempt was also called off due to a helium leak. In an announcement, SpaceX stated: "Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical. Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit. Next launch opportunity is no earlier than Wednesday, 28 August."
However, also the August 28 date won't go ahead due to "unfavorable weather" as SpaceX announced Tuesday evening via X: "Due to unfavorable weather forecasted in Dragon's splashdown areas off the coast of Florida, we are now standing down from tonight and tomorrow's Falcon 9 launch opportunities of Polaris Dawn. Teams will continue to monitor weather for favorable launch and return conditions."
While a new launch date hasn't been provided yet, the has now been paused until at least Friday, as SpaceX said both August 28 and August 29 are no longer on the cards as possible launch dates. Commander Jared Isaacman said in a post on X: "Our launch criteria are heavily constrained by forecasted splashdown weather conditions.
"With no ISS (space station) rendezvous and limited life support consumables, we must be absolutely sure of reentry weather before launching. As of now, conditions are not favorable tonight or tomorrow, so we'll assess day by day. As Elon (Musk) mentioned, Polaris Dawn is a challenging mission with critical objectives, so we'll wait for the best opportunity to ensure success."
Rocket explosion
The latest incident involved Falcon 9 booster 1062, which was making its 23rd flight. The rocket, which had sent 21 Starlink satellites on their way to orbit, tipped over and exploded as it landed on the drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas". This was the first Falcon 9 landing failure since February 2021.
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