(Credit: SpaceX.)
After waiting in the rain for a planned liftoff, SpaceX postponed its Falcon 9 Starlink mission initially planned for late Tuesday evening due to the ongoing severe weather conditions in California, which the company called "unfavorable."
"Due to unfavorable weather, we are standing down from tonight's launch of Starlink," SpaceX wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, around 1 a.m. ET Wednesday. "Next launch opportunity is no earlier than Wednesday, Feb. 7 pending weather conditions."
Prior to the launch, SpaceX shared that the weather conditions were only 30% favorable.
SpaceX had planned to send 22 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was scheduled to take place at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, which is on the California coast between San Louis Obispo and Santa Barbara. After a seven-minute livestream viewed over 330,000 times, however, the liftoff was put on hold.
Extreme rainy conditions have slammed California this week, causing over 500 mudslides, five deaths, and an estimated $11 billion in damages thus far. The New York Times called California's conditions "a weather day for the record books."
The state is currently experiencing a meteorological phenomenon called an "atmospheric river," which is a long, narrow band of moisture that leads to torrential rain. Southern California continued to see heavy rain last night with hail in some areas.
NASA and SpaceX's PACE launch was also postponed due to the extreme weather conditions, with NASA sharing that ground winds were too strong to complete "prelaunch checkouts."
There are over 5,000 Starlink satellites orbiting Earth, with the aim of providing internet access to people around the world.
The Falcon 9 Starlink launch is now scheduled to launch Wednesday night at 8:17 p.m. ET.
As Starlink expands its reach, it's had to seek regulatory approval. Over the weekend, reports surfaced that Botswana had denied Starlink's application to offer internet access in the country. But a representative for the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority denied the claims, telling PCMag via email Tuesday that the application has not been rejected and its review is still in progress.
According to SpaceX's website, the firm also has a crewed mission planned for Wednesday morning that will bring four astronauts from the International Space Station back to Earth.