CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The launch of a U.S. Air Force satellite designed to detect missiles was scrubbed Thursday due to technical issues, according to ULA officials.
The launch would have been the first ULA launch from the Space Coast this year, WKMG reports. Officials announced at 7:15 p.m., a little more than a half an hour before the launch window was set to open, that the launch had been scrubbed for the day.
Officials said "a ground issue associated with the booster liquid oxygen system" was the cause for the scrub.
The Space Based Infrared System, or SBIRS, GEO Flight 4 satellite was processed at Astrotech Space Operations facility, in Titusville, where it arrived Oct. 31 from California. The satellite joins three others in assisting Air Force missile-defense efforts.
The satellite was scheduled to launch Thursday during a 40-minute window that would have opened at 7:52 p.m.
The next launch attempt is scheduled Friday evening, with the launch window opening at 7:48 p.m. Air Force weather officials are predicting a 90 percent chance of favorable weather.
What to know
Rocket: U:A Atlas V 411 configuration
What: Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) GEO Flight 4 satellite for the U.S. Air Force
When: Friday, Jan. 19, 2018
Launch window: 7:48 p.m.
Weather: 90 percent
Launch pad: Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Sonic boom: No