SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket was seconds away from launching scores of satellites into orbit on Tuesday when the launch was canceled due to an airliner entering the launch zone.
"It looks like the [launch] range was a no-go. There might have been an airplane in the area. We do have a backup opportunity tomorrow, but for today, that's going to do it for us," SpaceX's Andy Tran said per UPI after a hold was called with 11 seconds to liftoff.
The Transporter-2 mission's Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to launch at 2:56 p.m. EDT from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch business stated that it will attempt again on Wednesday at the same time.
Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO, was enraged by the launch's 24-hour delay, tweeting that the rocket's "stay out zone" is "unreasonably enormous".
"An aircraft entered the keep-out zone, which is unreasonably gigantic," Musk posted on Twitter minutes after the scrub was announced. "There is simply no way that humanity can become a spacefaring civilization without major regulatory reform. The current regulatory system is broken."
Unfortunately, launch is called off for today, as an aircraft entered the “keep out zone”, which is unreasonably gigantic.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 29, 2021
There is simply no way that humanity can become a spacefaring civilization without major regulatory reform. The current regulatory system is broken.
The launch was canceled at the last minute due to a lack of time to prepare the vehicle for a second launch attempt despite SpaceX allocating a nearly one-hour launch window for this mission.
SpaceX did not say what caused the range violation and subsequent scrub. Although the host of the company's webcast believed that it could be an airplane, SpaceNews said.
A wide range of spacecraft is being prepped for launch, with 36 of them being booked for the mission by Spaceflight. This Seattle-based company assists with rideshare operations. Three SpaceX Starlink communications satellites and two NASA satellites are also on board.
Transporter-2 is the company's second "SmallSat Rideshare Program" launch, which consists of a single rocket carrying 85 commercial and government spacecraft and three SpaceX Starlink internet satellites.
Elon Musk Laments Postponement of Launch
Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, used the incident to criticize the FAA, demanding a broad "keep-out" zone for aircraft during a countdown.
It's the latest escalation in Musk's long-running dispute with authorities. The Federal Aviation Administration claims that when SpaceX disregarded multiple warnings from the agency when it launched its Starship SN8.
According to the FAA, SpaceX requested a waiver to "reach the maximum public risk allowed by federal safety laws." But they denied the request.
Musk has previously expressed similar dissatisfaction with the FAA's "broken" regulatory structure, as Science Times previously reported. Still, his concerns were focused on the launch license process rather than airspace limits.
The commercial aviation industry has long complained that the size and duration of airspace limitations for launches cause flight delays and upset airline timetables, and Musk's recent criticism echoes that argument.
The topic was raised most recently at a House Transportation Committee aviation subcommittee hearing on June 16, SpaceNews said. The hearing reviewed many problems affecting the FAA's control of commercial space transportation.
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