SpaceX aborted the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with 11 seconds to spare on Sunday when a plane appeared to fly into restricted airspace close to the launch site.
The launch, to send Starlink satellites into orbit, was being broadcast live on Space X’s X in its final five-minute countdown when a voice was heard saying “hold, hold, hold” at the 12-second mark.
Moments later, the same male voice said: “Waiting for an imaginable plane in airspace. ” “
Falcon 9’s launch was then postponed, and the video ended.
It’s unclear which aircraft, if any, the launch aborts, as several of them flew near the limited domain around the scheduled release time.
Social media users and various media outlets reported that Delta Flight 480, which took off from LAX Los Angeles to Daniel K. Inouye from Honolulu around 7 a. m. on Sunday, the culprit.
According to knowledge gathered through FlightAware, the Boeing 767 traveled north to north, turning west just past Vandenberg Air Force Base, which SpaceX uses for Falcon Nine launches.
In an interview with Business Insider, Delta said the flight crew followed air traffic control orders and flew to Honolulu without “any problems. “
In the audio of air traffic communications published on the Vas Aviation YouTube channel, you can listen to an air traffic ler discussing the launch and tell the DL480 cabin that “it seems that it will have the most productive show for the launch of Rocket. “
Soon afterward, the ATC notes that SpaceX had initiated a “countdown hold.”
Another flight near the restricted zone at the time was Southwest Flight SWA1311 from San Diego to Honolulu. When contacted about the incident, Southwest directed Business Insider to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA told BI it had received no reports about the incident.
While it’s not transparent precisely which aircraft would have possibly caused SpaceX to spur their launch, the incident highlights the factor of tensions between rocket launches and advertising aviation.
Three days earlier, a Starship rocket from the company led by Elon Musk exploded over the Caribbean, causing dozens of planes to hijack.
Last week, Australian airline Qantas said it had had to sustain several flights between Australia and South Africa in recent weeks to potentially fly through debris from SpaceX rockets sloshing through the air. Indian Ocean.
The launch of the Falcon nine, postponed from Sunday, is now scheduled for Tuesday at 7:45 a. m. m. PST.
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