Cape Canaveral, Fla. — It's launch day for the SpaceX Falcon 9.
The commercial payload mission will drop a Spacecom communications satellite into Earth’s orbit.
The launch was supposed to happen Saturday but after a successful static fire test, SpaceX tweeted it needed to do another test after replacing a suspect valve.
Team is setting up an additional static fire test of Falcon 9 after replacing a suspect valve. Will confirm updated target launch date for AMOS-17 once complete.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 1, 2019
In 2019, a completed static fire test isn’t particularly momentous.
But the success of this mission is particularly important because it's the second time SpaceX has attempted to launch this customer's satellite after it was lost during a test in 2016. Tap here to see that video.
Therefore this launch will be provided to Spacecom free of charge, after that anomaly.
The new satellite, known as AMOS-17, will provide telecommunications access across the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
