SpaceX scraps South Korean military satellite launch

By Paul Squire Published April 28, 2022

SpaceX has canceled Tuesday’s launch of a South Korean military satellite to “take a closer look” at the rocket’s staging.

The launch, which will send the satellite into orbit on its ANASIS-II mission, was delayed due to concerns over the rocket’s second stage. SpaceX tweeted that it will “swap hardware” for the rocket if needed.

A new launch date has not been set.

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On Saturday, SpaceX announced it had completed a test of its Falcon 9 rocket ahead of the launch. The rocket had been loaded onto the launchpad and even fired its engines for a few seconds. “Static tests” like that allow engineers to measure pressure and temperature, as well as check that everything is working as it should.

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The rocket booster that will be used in the ANASIS-II flight will be the same as the ones that lifted NASA astronauts into orbit during the historic Crew Dragon launch last month.

The ANASIS-II will be South Korea’s first military communications satellite. However, little else is known about the satellite due to its military background.

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