SpaceX delays launch of Italian satellite again

SpaceX has had to delay the launch of an Italian Earth-observation satellite yet again, but this time Mother Nature was not to blame.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was all set to loft the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2) satellite from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday (Jan. 30) at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT). But a cruise liner wandered into the "no-go zone" downrange of Cape Canaveral, and the ship couldn't be moved in time for the Falcon 9 to hit its window.

"The vehicle is still healthy; the payload is healthy," SpaceX production manager Jessie Anderson said during a webcast of today's launch attempt. "Everything was looking good for an on-time liftoff today, aside from the range."

It was the fourth consecutive day that SpaceX was stymied in its attempt to launch the CSG-2 satellite.

ZZ/PR