The coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on all sectors, even space, as SpaceX has been forced to delay launching its next satellite deployment mission thanks to the virus.
Elon Musk's company managed to successfully launch 60 Starlink satellites into orbit earlier this month. However, as Techcrunch reports, the next mission, which was scheduled for March 30, isn't happening anymore. Nobody knows when it will be allowed to go ahead.
SpaceX was planning to transport the SAtélite Argentino de Observación COn Microondas 1B (SAOCOM 1B) Earth observation satellite constellation using a Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force base in California. The launch was being carried out on behalf of Argentina's space agency CONAE, with the 1B joining an already orbiting 1A satellite to predict and monitor natural disasters.
The launch cancellation was decided by the Air Force's 45th Space Wing and for now it's on indefinite hold. Vandenberg declared a public health emergency last weekend, meaning the base is now only carrying out essential services with minimal personnel. In other words, there simply isn't the resources or staff in place to handle a launch.
Until coronavirus has been brought under control and the number of infections ceases to grow, the situation at Vandenberg is unlikely to change. This decision also calls into question SpaceX's planned commercial crew mission for NASA using the SpaceX Crew Dragon, which was expected to launch in May. Can that go ahead during a pandemic?
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