The Supermoon and SpaceX Launch Amid ULA Scrub
On Wednesday night, SpaceX successfully launched a mission as the full supermoon rose over the Space Coast, while United Launch Alliance (ULA) postponed its launch attempt. ULA plans to try again on Thursday at 10:16 p.m.
Launch Day Highlights
SpaceX and ULA prepared closely positioned rockets at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with less than two miles between their launch pads. The day's events coincided with November’s supermoon, known as the Beaver Moon.
Beaver Moon Details
“The November supermoon, called the Beaver Moon by the Farmer’s Almanac, was the second of three supermoons this year and also the closest: The moon came within just under 222,000 miles of Earth.”
NASA explains that this close proximity makes the moon appear up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than the smallest full moon of the year.
SpaceX Starlink Launch
The first launch of the evening was SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Starlink 6-81 mission with 29 satellites. It lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 8:30 p.m.
“After moonrise, the first rocket up was SpaceX on the Starlink 6-81 mission carrying 29 satellites from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 that lifted off at 8:30 p.m.”
While SpaceX has dominated launches this year, ULA aimed to contribute to a record number of orbital missions from the Space Coast with two launches on the same day but had to delay its first attempt.
ULA Outlook
ULA’s postponement delays a potential tie for the annual launch record. They plan to reschedule the launch for Thursday night at 10:16 p.m. local time.